Ficedula hypoleuca

European pied flycatcher
Adult male in Scotland The song of a male Pied Flycatcher, recorded at Yarner Wood, Devon, England
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Genus:	Ficedula
Species:	F. hypoleuca
Binomial name
Ficedula hypoleuca (Pallas, 1764)

The European pied flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. One of the four species of Western Palearctic black-and-white flycatchers, it hybridizes to a limited extent with the collared flycatcher. It breeds in most of Europe and western Asia. It is migratory, wintering mainly in western Africa. It usually builds its nests in holes on oak trees. This species practices polygyny, usually bigamy, with the male travelling large distances to acquire a second mate. The male will mate with the secondary female and then return to the primary female in order to help with aspects of child rearing, such as feeding.

The European pied flycatcher is mainly insectivorous, although its diet also includes other arthropods. This species commonly feeds on spiders, ants, bees and similar prey.

The European pied flycatcher has a very large range and population size and so it is of least concern according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The European pied flycatcher was first described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name Motacilla hypoleuca. It is an Old World flycatcher, part of a family of insectivorous songbirds which typically feed by darting after insects. There was an argument to split the species into two species, F. hypoleuca and F. speculigera, however this was rejected because speculigera was classified to be more closely related to subspecies F. h. iberiae. Subspecies include nominate Ficedula hypoleuca hypoleuca, F. h. iberiae, and F. h. sibirica.