The flycatchers of North America have a repute for being exhausting to determine—however don’t let that put you off. As with every giant group of similar-looking birds, you may get a great distance by studying acknowledge the principle subgroups. After you’ve narrowed your search down, it’ll be a lot easier to get right down to species.
New World flycatchers are within the household Tyrannidae (the “tyrant flycatchers”). Although there are 440 species in all, solely about 35 happen repeatedly within the U.S. and Canada. Nearly all are smallish birds with pretty giant heads, straight payments, and an alert, upright posture. They have a tendency to take a seat nonetheless on a perch earlier than flying out to nab an insect within the air. They’ve brief, typically harsh songs that may be very useful—even important—in separating species.
To get began, decide the general dimension and coloration: Is it giant, assertive, and cleanly marked like a kingbird? Brownish yellow with heat highlights like a Myiarchus? Or small and gray-green like a phoebe, pewee, or Empidonax?
Faucet or click on the fowl names to go to their All About Birds species account.
Massive and Assertive: Kingbirds
Kingbirds are large, flashy, conspicuous flycatchers, the most important within the U.S. and Canada. If you see a flycatcher in open nation—perched on fenceposts, powerlines, or scattered timber—it’s doubtless a kingbird. They’re all members of the genus Tyrannus (which means “tyrant”), and true to that identify, they tirelessly harass crows, jays, hawks, and different predators that get too near their nests.
Kingbirds are available two common coloration schemes: grey above and white beneath, or grey on the top and breast and yellow beneath. Their patterning is crisper and extra outlined than different sorts of flycatchers.
Yellow and Rusty Tones: Myiarchus
The medium-sized, crested flycatchers within the genus Myiarchus have a refined however distinctive coloration scheme: gray-and-yellow underparts with heat rufous highlights on the wings and tail. The sample is paying homage to yellow kingbirds like Western and Tropical, however the rufous highlights set them aside. Myiarchus flycatchers additionally behave in a different way: they have a tendency to forage inconspicuously in vegetation, whereas kingbirds are normally extremely seen on distinguished perches in open habitats.
Myiarchus give loud calls with extra of a whistled tone than different North American flycatchers. They are often inconspicuous birds, however their calls can lead you to them. Enjoyable reality: Myiarchus flycatchers are the one flycatchers within the U.S. and Canada that nest in tree cavities and birdhouses.
Small and Grayish to Greenish
Three teams of small, inconspicuous, typically forest-dwelling flycatchers are liable for many an ID headache: the phoebes, the pewees, and the Empidonax genus. It’s actually useful to study the slight variations that differentiate these teams—take note of general coloration tone, presence or absence of wingbars and eyerings, and the colour and dimension of the invoice.
Phoebes
Phoebes typically happen round buildings and all share a behavior of wagging their tails. Adults of all 3 species lack eyerings and robust wingbars, giving them a pointy, put-together look. This additionally helps distinguish them from each pewees and Empidonax. Should you stay in japanese North America and see a gray-brown fowl round a constructing wagging its tail, it’s virtually definitely an Jap Phoebe.
Pewees
Pewees are nondescript, and this could make them exhausting to acknowledge at first. However look intently: they’ve an general grayish forged with little inexperienced or yellow. Their faint wingbars assist distinguish them from phoebes, and but they lack the brilliant eyering and wingbars of the Empidonax group.
Watch additionally for his or her basic behavioral fashion: sitting on an uncovered perch, flying out for an insect, then returning to the identical perch. Different refined cues embody a bigger, yellower invoice than phoebes and longer wings (as judged by how far the wingtips prolong alongside the tail). Their loud, distinctive songs are additionally very useful.
Empidonax
For many of our area, species within the genus Empidonax are the smallest flycatchers you’ll discover. With observe, it’s comparatively straightforward to acknowledge this group: many of the 10 species have daring eyerings and two distinguished wingbars. Most of the species are inexperienced, olive-green, or yellow-green, not like pewees or phoebes. Most Empidonax are forest birds, however a number of species similar to Grey Flycatcher happen in open areas.
Figuring out Empidonax to species will be very troublesome until you hear their songs, that are brief, sharp chips. Vary, habitat, and time of 12 months are additionally useful in narrowing down a species.
Different Distinctive or Uncommon Flycatchers
Should you journey elsewhere within the Americas, you’ll discover many extra teams of flycatchers not described on this article. As an example, the tiny, foliage-gleaning tyrannulets; the stripe-headed, aggressive kiskadees; and the scruffy, streaky Myiodynastes genus are all represented by a single species in elements of the southern United States close to the border with Mexico. So should you see a flycatcher that doesn’t match neatly into the teams described above, test this checklist.
Flycatcher illustrations by Norman Arlott, Hilary Burn, Ian Lewington, Ian Willis through Birds of the World.
