A Flash of Blue in the Marshes: Kashmir’s First Recorded Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher in Srinagar

A Flash of Blue in the Marshes: Kashmir’s First Recorded Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher in Srinagar
November 24, 2025 – Srinagar, Kashmir
Yesterday morning, something extraordinary happened in the floating gardens and reed beds of Hokarsar Wetland on the outskirts of Srinagar: a tiny jewel of a bird, the Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis rubeculoides), was photographed and documented for the very first time in the Kashmir Valley.
For birdwatchers in Kashmir, this is nothing short of a bombshell.
The Bird That “Shouldn’t” Be Here
The Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher is a small (14 cm), strikingly beautiful passerine. The male is unmistakable: glittering sapphire-blue throat and upperparts, deep orange breast, and a white belly. Females and immatures are duller olive-brown but still show a hint of that electric blue on the tail.
Its usual breeding range stretches across the foothills of the Himalayas from Uttarakhand through Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and northeast India. In winter, most birds descend to peninsular India, Sri Lanka, or migrate even further to Southeast Asia. Kashmir, at 34°N and separated by high mountain barriers, has simply never been on its known route.
Until now.
How It Was Found
Local birder and photographer Intesar Suhail was scanning the willow thickets along the southern edge of Hokarsar at dawn when he spotted a male actively hawking insects just above the water. “I thought it was a Verditer Flycatcher at first,” he later told me, “but the orange breast and bright blue throat stopped me dead. My hands were shaking so much I almost dropped the camera.”
Intesar managed a series of sharp photographs and sound recordings of the bird’s soft, high-pitched “tsee-tsee” contact calls. The images were uploaded to eBird and immediately flagged by reviewers. Within hours, Kashmir’s small but highly active birding community was exploding on WhatsApp groups. By afternoon, at least eight more birders had relocated the bird and confirmed the record.
Why This Record Matters
First for Jammu & Kashmir (and indeed the entire Western Himalaya west of Nepal).
A massive range extension – roughly 800–900 km northwest of the nearest regular breeding sites in eastern Nepal and northern West Bengal.
Hokarsar lies at 1,584 m elevation; the bird was photographed in late November, well into the Kashmir winter. This is very late for a species that is supposed to be altitudinal and then long-distance migrant.
Possible Explanations
Climate-driven range shift: Many Himalayan species are moving upslope and westward as temperatures rise.
Extreme weather displacement: A strong western disturbance earlier this month may have pushed a bird far off course.
Simple vagrancy: Once in a lifetime “oops” moments do happen, and Kashmir’s wetlands have produced surprises before (Black-headed Gull with a yellow head ring from Arctic Russia, anyone?).
Whatever the reason, the flycatcher has now gifted Kashmir its 401st recorded species (as per the most updated regional checklist).
A Fragile Visitor in a Fragile Wetland
Hokarsar, famously called “the Dal Lake of birds,” is under enormous pressure: encroachment, siltation, and plans to convert parts of it into a golf course have been making headlines for years. That a lost little flycatcher chose this very wetland to stage its dramatic appearance feels almost symbolic, a reminder of what we stand to lose if we do not protect these marshes.
As I write this, the Blue-throated Blue Flycatcher is still present today (25 November), delighting a steady stream of binocular-wielding visitors who are keeping a respectful distance. No playback, no crowding, just pure joy.
If you are in Srinagar over the next few days and the bird sticks around, wrap up warm, head to Hokarsar before first light, and walk the southern bund quietly. You might just witness living proof that, even in 2025, the world can still surprise us with a flash of impossible blue.
Welcome to Kashmir, little wanderer. May you find enough insects to fuel your journey home, and may we keep the wetlands wild enough for the next lost soul that needs them.

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