In the daily life of any flying animal, manoeuvring is something that is ever present: predators pursuing prey, prey avoiding predator, flying through cluttered environments, and so on. Therefore, how the animals perform their manoeuvers and what it cost for them to do so, is of utmost importance to their biology and ecology. For a flycatcher, a small bird that catches insect prey on the wing, manoeuvrability is central and the birds perform various manoeuvres constantly in their everyday routine flights. Here we present the results from a study of the aerodynamics and kinematics of manoeuvring flight in flycatchers in a wind tunnel. We performed a set of experiments where we used time-resolved stereo particle image velocimetry (PIV) to capture the wake generated by the birds while they were performing lateral manoeuvres. At the same time the birds were recorded with four high-speed cameras to extract body, wing and tail kinematics. To encourage the birds to perform the manoeuvers, we laterally translated a thin carbon fibre sting holding a mealworm at the instant just before the flycatchers approached their prey. This resulted in three different phases captured within each recorded sequence; (i) initiation of the manoeuver, (ii) lateral displacement, and finally (iii) termination of the manoeuver and stabilization. We explain the mechanistic basis of the manoeuvres and discuss the results in the context of flight performance.