Unusual bathing behavior of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Colombia

While conducting a crocodile (Crocorlylus sp.) census along the Tomo River, Vichada, Colombia, I observed Fork-tailed Flycatchers (Tyrarznus savana) engaged in unusual group behavior. Six birds were perched 10 m up in a dead tree at water’s edge on the south bank of the river. The birds were flying in an ellipsoidal pattern from the perchsite to the water, hovering briefly, and immersing themselves, in turn, before returning to the tree.

WILLIAM W. LAMAR, Wilson Bull., 95(3), 1983, pp. 488-489