Vermilion Flycatcher in Galápagos: Facts and Where to See It

The Galápagos birds are slightly smaller and duller than vermilion flycatchers on the mainland, yet the male is still the brightest land bird of the islands. Pairs are monogamous and territorial. To court, a male flies straight up while chirping steadily.

• Nest. A cup high in a tree, lined with moss and lichen, built in the warm season from December to May.
• Eggs. Three a year.
• Maturity. At two years.

The species has a tangled history. It was first collected on Darwin's voyage on HMS Beagle, and two subspecies were described from his specimens; the one from San Cristóbal has not been recorded since the 1980s and is considered extinct. The Galápagos birds were recently recognised as a species of their own.

Its home is the humid highland forest of Scalesia, Tournefortia and Zanthoxylum trees, forests that have largely been cleared for farming on the inhabited islands. It catches insects on the wing like other flycatchers. The Galapagos Conservation Trust names Isabela and the uninhabited islands of Fernandina and Rábida, and on Santa Cruz the north and northwest side of the central ridge, where Scalesia forest still stands.

Guide sighting records list the little vermilion flycatcher at 2 sites, both in the humid highlands: the Santa Cruz Highlands and Sierra Negra on Isabela. Both are rated Rare, so a sighting is a reward on a highland visit rather than a certainty.

The best time is the breeding season, December to May, when insects are plentiful and males display. In the next twelve months, 509 departures stop at a site where they are recorded.

Its numbers are believed to be falling fast, especially on the inhabited islands, where much of its forest has been cleared for building and farming. The introduced smooth-billed ani competes with it, and larvae of the parasitic fly Philornis downsi attack the nestlings. The Galapagos Conservation Trust lists it as Near Threatened.

Conservation. Since 2014, a landbird programme has removed invasive hill raspberry to let Scalesia forest return, and treats nesting material with insecticide against the fly. The restoration of Floreana aims to bring the flycatcher back there in the long run.

1. Looking on the coast. It lives in the highland forest.
2. Missing the females. Only males are red; females are grey with a peach breast.
3. Coming outside the season. December to May gives the best chance.