General

Gray Flycatcher: Small flycatcher with gray or olive-gray upperparts and pale gray underparts. Eye-ring is white. Upper mandible is dark gray, while lower mandible is pale pink with black tip. Wings are dark with two white bars. Tail is long, dark, and has white edges. Sexes are similar. Repeatedly lowers tail slowly and then quickly lifts it back up.

Range and Habitat

Gray Flycatcher: Breeds from southern Washington and southwestern Wyoming south to eastern California, central Arizona, and central New Mexico. Spends winters in southern California and southern Arizona. Sagebrush and pinyon-juniper woodlands are preferred habitats.

Breeding and Nesting

Gray Flycatcher: Three or four creamy white eggs are laid in a grass-woven cup nest built low in a sagebrush or small tree. Eggs are incubated for approximately 14 days by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Gray Flycatcher: Hunts from a perch and catches food in mid-air or on the ground. Diet consists mainly of small insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, and moths.

Readily Eats

Meal Worms

Vocalization

Gray Flycatcher: Song is in two parts, rising in tone: "chiwip" or "chi-bit." Call is a soft "whit."

Similar Species

Gray Flycatcher: Most flycatchers are so similar in appearance that it is nearly impossible to tell them apart by sight alone without a bird in hand. However, their distinct songs and calls along with habitat are good diagnostics.