American gray flycatcher

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American grey flycatcher
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"grey flycatcher" redirects here. For African species, see African grey flycatcher.

American gray flycatcher

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tyrannidae
Genus: Empidonax
Species:
E. wrightii
Binomial name
Empidonax wrightii

The American gray flycatcher, American grey flycatcher, or just gray flycatcher (Empidonax wrightii) as it is known in North America, is a small,

ponderosa pine forests, this flycatcher forages for insects from shrubs or low tree
branches.

The American gray flycatcher is one of the many

range
. The American gray flycatcher, however, can be identified by a unique behavior, its downward tail wag. Other Empidonax species typically exhibit a rapid upward tail flick.

Description

American gray flycatchers are small birds, but larger than most Empidonax flycatchers. A typical adult measures 15 cm (5.9 in) in length, 22 cm (8.7 in) in wingspan, and 12.5 g (0.44 oz) in mass.[2]

Adults have pale gray upperparts, darker on the

supraloral band stretching above the base of the bill. Relative to other North American Empidonax flycatchers, the American gray flycatcher has a long, narrow bill, a long tail, and the mandible tends to be paler for more of its length.[2]

buffy wing bars and brownish breasts.[2]

Only the male sings. The song is a strong, two syllable note described as chuwip or wilip. A weaker, higher-pitched teeap or seep is often inserted into the song. Both sexes give a dry pit or wit call. Females call often when foraging or collecting nest materials.[3]

Taxonomy

The American gray flycatcher is very similar

type specimen designated for the dusky flycatcher was in fact an American gray flycatcher. The name then in use for dusky flycatcher was Wright's flycatcher (E. wrightii), a name proposed in 1858. Because the name wrightii took precedence, it was applied to the American gray flycatcher, leaving the dusky flycatcher to be given a new name, E. oberholseri.[3]

There are no recognized subspecies, and there is no geographic variation reported.[3]

The

IOC World Bird List uses the name American grey flycatcher for Empidonax wrightii to differentiate it from the African grey flycatcher
. However, the American Ornithological Society (which covers North and Middle America) names it gray flycatcher.

Distribution

The American gray flycatcher breeds from southernmost

Washington to eastern Oregon and California. The range extends east across Nevada, southern Idaho, Utah, and northern Arizona to southwestern Wyoming, western Colorado, and northwestern New Mexico.[3]

Depending on latitude, they arrive on breeding grounds mid-April to mid-May and leave between mid-August and mid-September. Migration between breeding and wintering grounds takes approximately seven weeks in both spring and autumn. Males usually arrive on breeding grounds one week prior to arrival of females.[3]

The American gray flycatcher winters in Baja California Sur, southeastern Arizona, and central Sonora to central Oaxaca. Small numbers may winter in western Texas and southern California.[3]

Habitat

Breeding habitat can be

Pinus
species), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa).

During migration habitat is generally similar to breeding habitat, but

Quercus species), or mesquite (Prosopis species).[3]

In winter the American gray flycatcher is found in "arid open and semiopen areas with scrub and scattered trees".[4]

Behavior

Diet

The diet presumably consists entirely of insects and other small invertebrates. Fruit may be eaten in winter, but that has not been confirmed.[3]

Most

foliage or bark
.

Reproduction

The American gray flycatcher is

extra-pair copulations may occur.[3]

The nest is bulky and less compact than those of other Empidonax flycatchers. The female builds the nest (males rarely help) from various plant materials, especially grass stalks and strips of bark. The nest is usually lined with softer materials, such as wool, hair, feathers, or soft grasses. Nests may be placed in sagebrush, bitterbrush, junipers, or pines. Nest height depends in part on the height of the substrate (i.e., nests tend to be higher in taller trees) but is usually 1–6 m (3.3–19.7 ft) above ground. Most nests are placed in the crotch of a branch next to the trunk, but some are situated on larger branches away from the trunk.[3]

Females lay one

altricial and have little down when they hatch. Both parents feed the nestlings. Fledging occurs about 16 days after hatching.[3]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22699860A93752435.en
    . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Pyle, Peter; Steve N.G. Howell; Robert P. Yunick & David F. DeSante (1987). Identification Guide to North American Passerines. Bolinas, California: Slate Creek Press.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Sterling, John C. 1999. Gray flycatcher (Empidonax wrightii), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology
  4. ISBN 0-19-854012-4
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Empidonax wrightii.
Wikispecies has information related to Empidonax wrightii.
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