Great Crested Flycatcher

Myiarchus crinitusOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Codes: Common Name: GCFL Scientific Name: MYICRI ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178309

Breeding Location:

Open landscapes, Forest

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

White to buff with brown, olive and purple marks

Number of Eggs:

4 - 8

Incubation Days:

13 - 15

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Filled and lined with grass, weeds, back strips, rootlets, feathers, fur, snakeskin, onion skin, cellophane, and clear plastic.

Migration:

Migratory

General

Great Crested Flycatcher: Large, crested flycatcher with olive-green upperparts. Head, throat, and upper breast are gray, belly is yellow, and undertail coverts are lemon-yellow. Bill is heavy and black. Wings are dark with rufous patches. Tail is rufous. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Great Crested Flycatcher: Breeds from south-central and southeastern Canada to the Gulf coast. Spends winters in southern Florida; also in tropics.

Breeding and Nesting

Great Crested Flycatcher: Four to eight white to buff eggs marked with brown, olive, and lavender are laid in a nest filled and lined with grass, weeds, bark strips, rootlets, feathers, fur, snake skin, onion skin, and cellophane. Nest is usually built in a cavity, abandoned hole of another bird, or bird box.

Foraging and Feeding

Great Crested Flycatcher: Eats variety of large insects, including beetles, crickets, katydids, caterpillars, moths, and butterflies; also eats fruits and berries; forages by flying from a perch to snatch insects from foliage, mid-air, or on the ground.

Readily Eats

Meal Worms

Vocalization

Great Crested Flycatcher: Call is a melodic whistle of "wheeep!" or a rolling "prrrrrrrrrreeeet." "Wheeep" is often given in rapid succession in series of three or more.

Similar Species

Great Crested Flycatcher: Ash-throated Flycatcher has smaller bill, white throat, and pale gray breast.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Great Crested Flycatcher

● Song: "wheep!", "prrrrrrrrrreeeet", "wheeep"

● Foraging & Feeding: Great Crested Flycatcher: Eats variety of large insects, including beetles, crickets, katydids, caterpillars, moths, and butterflies; also eats fruits and berries; forages by flying from a perch to snatch insects from foliage, mid-air, or on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Great Crested Flycatcher: Four to eight white to buff eggs marked with brown, olive, and lavender are laid in a nest filled and lined with grass, weeds, bark strips, rootlets, feathers, fur, snake skin, onion skin, and cellophane. Nest is usually built in a cavity, abandoned hole of another bird, or bird box.

● Similar species: Great Crested Flycatcher: Ash-throated Flycatcher has smaller bill, white throat, and pale gray breast.

Flight Pattern

Fairly swift buoyant direct flight., Hawks insects in flight, returning to perch., Hovers over foliage or ground then dips for food.

Great Crested Flycatcher Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Great Crested Flycatcher: Breeds from south-central and southeastern Canada to the Gulf coast. Spends winters in southern Florida; also in tropics.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1.2 Ounces

Undertail coverts

Small feathers that cover the areas where the retrices (tail feathers) attach to the rump.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America