These birds arrive in the Himalayan breeding grounds in May and leave in September. Southward migration begins in August. During the migratory season they may be found as passage migrants all over peninsular India. In winter they are found mainly in the hill forests of southern India, the Western Ghats and in Sri Lanka. They arrive in mid-September and leave the winter quarters in mid April. Males appeared to be commoner than females in a survey conducted in the Nilgiris suggesting either differences in the timing of migration of males and females or variation in wintering areas. At Point Calimere they have been regularly trapped during October November on their return migration from Sri Lanka but rarely on the southward migration with suggestions that they may follow different routes.