Scarlet Flycatcher

The male Scarlet Flycatcher is probably the bird with the brightest colour in the family. It has a bright red head with a dark loral stripe and a brown stripe beginning in the eye and reaching up to the nape, passing through the parotic feathers that can be erected in a crest. The lower part from the beak to the tail is of the same vivid vermilion red. The upper parts are dark, covered feathers of quite a warm brown and wing and tails feathers rather of a blackish brown. The uniformity in the upper parts is broken by light edging of feathers and remiges. The light tip of the first remiges draws two thin wing bars. The parts hidden by the wings at rest - back, rump and uppertail -are of a lighter brown and form a great contrast to the mantle and the very dark tail. The iris is dark, beak and legs black.
The female differs totally from the male. Its upper parts are rather greyish and lighter brown and present a contrast between body and the rest. Most feathers have light edging contributing to the overall lightness. The tail is edged light. Chin, throat and upper breast are white and have dark streaks of varying intensity, reminding of the grey flycatcher and extending to theflanks. The lower breast is slightly beige and occasionally, in some individuals, progressively passes to a more or less vivid reddish or pinkish colour on the belly and undertail.
The juvenile looks like the female but with streaks and edging more marked. The immature male resembles the female but the red filling its lower parts reveals its identity.
The species is monotypic.