Myiagra rubecula
Leaden Flycatchers are summer migrants to the Canberra region, preferring woodland habitats where they breed. They are active birds and have a range of calls, including one that sounds like a frog croaking.
They have a typical summer migrant twin-peak pattern. They are almost totally absent from May to September, and then quickly become conspicuous in October. Numbers rise to a higher post-breeding peak in January and February before declining again during March and April as birds migrate north for the winter.
Proximity of woodland reserves has a strong effect on the occurrence of Leaden Flycatchers in the suburbs, and records suggest that once arrived, they tend to stay in the general area. Numbers have fluctuated over the survey period but no general trend is apparent.
Fifteen breeding records are from near bushland reserves, with nesting activity in late November and December and dependent young from December to early March. R=61. BR=42.
