It breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to Siberia, and is migratory, wintering in Africa and south western Asia.

The adults have grey-brown upperparts and whitish underparts, with a streaked crown and breast, giving rise to the bird's common name.

The spotted flycatcher was described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name Motacilla striata.

However, a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2016 found that they were genetically similar to each other but significantly different from the other spotted flycatcher subspecies.

[10] The International Ornithologists' Union has split the species and it is known as the Mediterranean flycatcher, while other taxonomic authorities still consider it to be conspecific.

The crown, throat and breast are streaked with brown while the wings and tail feathers are edged with paler thin margins.

Most passerines moult their primary flight feathers in sequence beginning near the body and proceeding outwards along the wing.