Ash-throated flycatcher

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Ash-throated flycatcher
In California, United States

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tyrannidae
Genus: Myiarchus
Species:
M. cinerascens
Binomial name
Myiarchus cinerascens
(Lawrence, 1851)
Synonyms

Tyrannula cinerascens
Tyrannula mexicanus

The ash-throated flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family.

Taxonomy

First described in 1851 by

Philip Lutley Sclater analyzed the tyrant flycatchers known from Mexico and realized that both scientific names referred to the same species.[3] During the same analysis, Slater moved the ash-throated flycatcher from the genus Tyrannula to its current genus, Myiarchus.[4] In the past, the ash-throated flycatcher has sometimes been considered to be conspecific with Nutting's flycatcher, but there are morphological and vocal differences between the two.[2] There is disagreement as to whether the two species hybridize.[5]

The ash-throated flycatcher has two recognized subspecies:

The genus name Myiarchus is a compound word created from the

species epithet cinerascens is a Latin word meaning "ashen".[6]

Description

The ash-throated flycatcher is a medium-sized tyrant flycatcher, measuring 7.5 to 8.6 in (19 to 22 cm) in length with a wingspan of 11.8 to 12.6 in (30 to 32 cm) and a mass of 0.7 to 1.3 oz (20 to 37 g).[7][8] Overall, it is slim and long-tailed, with a slightly peaked crest on its relatively large head.[7] The upperparts are olive brown, with a darker head and short crest. The breast is gray and the belly is a very pale yellow. The brown tail feathers and wings have rufous outer webs, and there are two dull wing bars. The sexes are similar.

Distribution and habitat

It breeds in desert scrub, riparian forest, brushy pastures and open woodland from the western United States to central Mexico. It is a short-distance migrant, retreating from most of the U.S. and northern and central Mexico, spending the winter from southern Mexico to Honduras. This bird is also prone to wander, with single birds often seen outside its normal breeding range as far away as the east coast of North America.

Behavior

Feeding

This species is primarily an insectivore that flies from a perch to catch prey from the ground or from foliage in the undergrowth, less often from branches and trunks, hardly ever in midair. Unlike many other tyrant flycatchers, it often moves on to another perch rather than returning to the same one. It also takes some fruit, especially in winter if insects are unavailable. Rarely, it takes small mammals and reptiles, which it kills by banging them against hard objects.[9]

Breeding

The nest is built in a tree cavity or similar natural or man-made hole, and the normal clutch is three or four eggs.

Vocalizations

The ash-throated flycatcher is separated from other confusingly similar Myiarchus species by its calls, a burry kabrick and a rough prrt or wheer heard year-round.[9]

Conservation and threats

Because of its extensive range, very large population, and generally increasing numbers, the ash-throated flycatcher has been listed as a species of

Migratory Bird Treaty Act.[10] In the United States, the creation of bluebird trails, a network of nest boxes put out for the continent's three bluebird species, may benefit ash-throated flycatchers as they will also use the boxes.[11]

Ash-throated flycatchers have been found to be negatively affected by noise pollution. Noise pollution is an unnaturally high and harmful level of noise within an environment, and can be caused by industrial changes like airplanes or factories.  In one study, noise pollution caused decreases in baseline corticosterone and increases in acute (stressor-induced) corticosterone levels in both adult female and nestling ash-throated flycatchers. At the highest levels of environmental noise, nestling flycatchers also showed decreased feather growth and body mass.[12] Abnormal noise levels may also decrease the ash-throated flycatcher's listening area within its territory, affecting its ability to find prey or avoid predators.[13]

Parasites and predators

South Padre Island - Texas (flash photo)

The ash-throated flycatcher is host to a number of parasites, including the nasal

type host)[14] and the quill mite Syringophilopsis tyranni.[15]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22700427A93775259.en
    . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. ^
    Handbook of Birds of the World
    . Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  3. ^ Coues, Elliott (Jan 1872). "Studies of the Tyrannidæ.: Part I. Revision of the Species of Myiarchus". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 24 (1): 56–81.
  4. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1859.tb06224.x
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-19-518323-8
    .
  6. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  7. ^ a b "Ash-throated Flycatcher: Identification". All About Birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  8. ^ "Ash-throated Flycatcher". National Geographic. Archived from the original on May 28, 2018. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  9. ^ a b Cardiff, Steven W.; Dittmann, Donna L. (2002). Poole, A. (ed.). "Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens)". The Birds of North America Online. Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  10. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
    . Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  11. National Audubon Society
    . Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  12. PMID 29311304
    .
  13. PMID 28052511
    .
  14. JSTOR 3275132
    .
  15. S2CID 21772145
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Myiarchus cinerascens.
Wikispecies has information related to Myiarchus cinerascens.
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