Ash-throated Flycatcher

Myiarchus cinerascens

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family TYRANNIDAE - Subfamily Tyranninae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A common flycatcher of open arid areas of the West, the Ash-throated Flycatcher nests in holes in trees, fence posts, and nest boxes.

Cool Facts

• Unlike most members of its genus, the Ash-throated Flycatcher only occasionally uses snakeskin in its nest. Only 5% of nests examined contained reptile skin, but 98% had mammal hair. Rabbit fur was the most frequently used.

• The Ash-throated Flycatcher frequently uses man-made structures for nesting. It readily uses nest boxes, as well as pipes, fence posts, ledges under eaves or porches, and even in clothes hanging on a clothesline. The use of artificial structures may have offset the loss of natural nest sites by development, and may be responsible for an increase in numbers.

• The Ash-throated Flycatcher is a rare, but regular vagrant to the East Coast. Individuals turn up nearly every year, and have been found in all coastal states and provinces. Sightings are less frequent from inland areas in the East and Midwest.

Description

• Size: 19-21 cm (7-8 in)
• Wingspan: 30-32 cm (12-13 in)
• Weight: 21-38 g (0.74-1.34 ounces)

• Medium-sized bird, medium to large flycatcher.
• Long rusty tail.
• Short, bushy crest.
• Back brown.
• Throat and chest pale gray.
• Belly pale yellow.

• Bill wide, all black.
• Gape and mouth lining pale.
• Whitish wingbars.
• Wings blackish brown with rufous patch in primaries.
• Tail brown and rufous, with darker dusky tips to feathers.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage; male slightly larger.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but paler, with buffy tips to wing feathers, and more rufous in tail.

Similar Species

• Brown-crested Flycatcher very similar, but has different calls, slightly thicker and broader bill, and rufous of tail feathers extends to tip.
• Dusky-capped Flycatcher slightly smaller, colored a bit brighter, bill proportionately larger, tail with only little rufous, and call different.
• Great-crested Flycatcher is larger, chest darker, belly much brighter yellow, base of lower mandible pale brown, rufous to tip of tail feathers, and has different call.

Sound

Call a sharp "hwit" and "ha-wheer."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from central Washington and southern Idaho eastward to Colorado and central Texas, southward to Mexico and Central America.

Winter Range

Winters from northern Mexico and southern California and Arizona southward.

Habitat

Arid and semiarid scrub, open woodland, and riparian woodlands.

Food

Arthropods and small fruit. Occasionally small reptiles and mammals.

Behavior

Foraging

Captures insects off vegetation and on ground. Flycatches somewhat less often, usually using different perches in between sallies.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nests in cavities, such as woodpecker holes and nest boxes. Nest made of dry grass, weed stems, manure, dry leaves. Lined with hair, feathers, soft plant fibers, and, rarely, shed snakeskin.

Egg Description

Creamy white with sparse dark streaks and blotches.

Clutch Size

2-7 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless and naked.

Conservation Status

Populations increasing.

Other Names

Tyran à gorge cendrée (French)

Sources used to construct this page:

Cardiff, S. W., and D. L. Dittmann. Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens). In The Birds of North America, No. 664 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.