Its breeding range extends from eastern Afghanistan to the Hengduan Mountains ; it winters in India and northwestern Indochina.

The amount of white on the brow and tail show clinal variation from West to East along the Himalayan foothills, which is sometimes taken to distinguish three subspecies: Usually singly, though sometimes in mixed hunting parties in the winter.

Constantly jerks up its tail, often accompanied by fluffing of head feathers and trrr note, especially in proximity of nest.

[citation needed] Summer: Common breeding visitor to the western Himalayas, from Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh to Uttarakhand (western race), and intergrading within Nepal with the eastern race Ficedula superciliaris aestigma which continues in the eastern Himalayas through Bhutan to Arunachal Pradesh.

Winter: Central India from Delhi south to northern Maharashtra, Goa, and eastward to Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.