Great Crested Flycatcher

Myiarchus crinitus

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family TYRANNIDAE - Subfamily Tyranninae

Menu

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

A treetop hunter of deciduous forests and suburban areas, the Great Crested Flycatcher is easier to hear than to see. The only eastern flycatcher that nests in cavities, it often includes snakeskin in the nest lining.

Cool Facts

• Many, but not all, Great Crested Flycatcher nests contain shed snakeskin. Other crinkly materials, such as plastic wrappers, cellophane, and onion skin, may be used.

• The Great Crested Flycatcher is a bird of the treetops. It spends very little time on the ground, and does not hop or walk. It prefers to fly from place to place on the ground rather than walk.

• The Great Crested Flycatcher makes the same "wee-eep" calls on the wintering grounds that it makes in summer.

Description

• Size: 17-21 cm (7-8 in)
• Wingspan: 34 cm (13 in)
• Weight: 27-40 g (0.95-1.41 ounces)

• Medium-sized songbird; large flycatcher.
• Bright yellow belly.
• Cinnamon rufous in wings and tail.
• Wingbars.

• Olive brown back.
• Gray throat and upper breast.
• Short fluffy crest when excited.
• Tail rather long.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage; male slightly larger.

Immature

Like adult.

Sound

Call a strong rising "wee-eep." Also a noisy grating call.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from eastern Alberta through southern Canada to Nova Scotia, and southward to central Texas and Florida.

Winter Range

Winters from southern Mexico to northern South America. Some in southern Florida.

Habitat

• Breeds in open deciduous woodlands, old orchards, riparian corridors, wooded swamps, parks, cemeteries, and urban areas with large shade trees.
• Winters in humid forests and second growth.

Food

Insects, other invertebrates, some small fruits.

Behavior

Foraging

Sallies out from perches after flying insects, hovers to glean insects off leaves, and drops down from perch to take prey on ground. Hunts primarily in top of canopy.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nests in cavities, typically filled with trash and nest placed on top. Nest made of leaves, hair, feathers, rootlets, string, trash, small twigs, bark, paper, and shed snakeskin. Will use nestbox.

Egg Description

Creamy white to pinkish with uniformly distributed streaks and blotches.

Clutch Size

Usually 5 eggs. Range: 4-8.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with some down.

Conservation Status

No long-term changes in populations evident.

Other Names

Tyran huppé (French)
Papamoscas viajero, Copetón viajero (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Lanyon, W. E. 1997. Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus). In The Birds of North America, No. 300 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.