Locally known as Sambar Asia in Malay (Asyraf et al., 2015), the Asian Brown Flycatcher is a small passerine bird from the Central Asia (ranging from eastern Russia, northern China, Korea and Japan) that migrates through the Indian subcontinent, southern China and South-East Asia to the Greater Sundas and the Philippines during winter. This species is known to inhabit a wide range of habitats ranging from forest fringes to open wooded coastal areas and mangroves. It also often found in garden and parks (Strange & Jeyarajasingam, 1993; Jeyarajasingam & Pearson, 2012).

A few subspecies have been recognized across the range, including M. d. dauurica and M. d. williamsoni (Jeyarajasingam & Pearson, 2012; Phillipps, 2014). Generally, M. d. dauurica breeds in Central Siberia, northern China to Japan and migrates to South East Asia in winter. It can be identified by the dull grey-brown upperparts, whitish underparts with pale grey-brown upper breast and distinct eye ring. Meanwhile, M. d. williamsoni can be differentiated by the brown upperparts, rufescent shade on entire uppertail, whitish throat and underpart with brownish buff on breast and flanks. This subspecies breeds in Myanmar to northern Malaya and migrates to the Malay Peninsula during winter (Jeyarajasingam & Pearson, 2012).