Culicicapa ceylonensis
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The grey-headed canary-flycatcher (Culicicapa ceylonensis), sometimes known as the grey-headed flycatcher, is a species of small flycatcher-like bird found in tropical Asia. It has a square crest, a grey hood and yellow underparts. They are found mainly in forested habitats where they often join other birds in mixed-species foraging flocks. Pairs are often seen as they forage for insects by making flycatcher-like sallies and calling aloud. Several subspecies are recognized within their wide distribution range. In the past the genus Culicicapa was considered to be an Old World flycatcher but studies have found them to belong to a new family designated as the Stenostiridae or fairy flycatchers that include the African genera Stenostira and Elminia.
The grey-headed canary-flycatcher is about 12–13 cm (4.7–5.1 in) long with a squarish grey head, a canary yellow belly and yellowish-green upperparts. They forage actively like flycatchers and perches in a very upright posture. The sexes are indistinguishable in plumage. They have a very flat bill (which gave it the earlier genus name of Platyrhynchus) which when seen from above look like an equilateral triangle and is fringed... Wikipedia →
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher sighting in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 61 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 108th most-seen of the 156 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January, May and July–August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in February–April, June and September–December, the lowest months.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
28th of 33
Of the 33 parks where we can rate Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher sightings, Sinharaja Forest Reserve ranks 28th at under 5%. The best odds are in Kerinci Seblat National Park (Indonesia, about 70%), Cuc Phuong National Park (Vietnam, about 50%) and Horton Plains National Park (Sri Lanka, about 50%). All parks ranked.
Same order: Passeriformes
The closest relatives of the Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher that you can see in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Square-tailed Bulbul (about 80%), Yellow-Browed Bulbul (about 70%) and Orange-billed Babbler (about 70%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grey-headed Canary-Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (61 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
