Tyrant Flycatchers

A total of 31 species of tyrant flycatchers breed regularly in the United States or Canada. All of these are migratory, spending their non-breeding season in Central and South America. Many of the species of tyrant flycatchers are remarkably similar in appearance, and they can be extremely difficult to identify to species, even for experienced birders. This problem is especially acute during the spring and autumn migrations, when the birds A least flycatcher (Empidonax minimus). Photograph by Robert J. Huffman. Field Mark Publications. Reproduced by permission. are not necessarily in their typical, breeding habitat, and are not singing.

Some of the North American species, and also species elsewhere, are virtually impossible to tell apart by color or morphology. However, the species occupy different sorts of habitats and niches, have different songs, do not interbreed, and are reproductively isolated. These sorts of difficult-to-distinguish species are known to evolutionary biologists as sibling species.

In North America, the best examples of sibling species are two types in the so-called Traill's flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) group, which was shown by detailed field studies to be composed of two, morphologically identical, species. The alder flycatcher (E. alnorum) has a relatively northern distribution, breeding from central Alaska and northern Canada south of the tundra, to southern British Columbia, Michigan, New York, New England, and Appalachia as far south as Maryland. This species breeds in wet alder and willow thickets, bogs, and regenerating burns and cut-overs, and its song sounds like: "fee-bee-ow." The willow flycatcher (E. traillii) breeds further to the south through most of the continental United States, in shrubbery along grassy lake edges and streams, and its song sounds like: "fitz-bew."

Actually, the difficulties do not end with these two sibling species. The alder and willow flycatchers and the Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) of the eastern United States are the same size, and they have a very similar coloration, as does the almost imperceptibly smaller least flycatcher (E. minimus). As in true sibling species, these four types breed in distinctively different habitats, they have different songs, and they do not interbreed. Biologically, therefore, they are different species, even if frustrated bird-watchers cannot always tell who is what during the migrations of the birds, when they do not occur in typical habitat, and do not usually sing.

Other tyrant flycatchers are considerably easier to deal with. One of the more familiar species over much of the continent is the eastern kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus), a slaty-backed, white breasted species of open country. The western kingbird (T. verticalis) has a more southwestern distribution.

The great-crested flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) occurs in southeastern North America, and is a relatively large, olive-backed bird, with a rufous tail and a yellow belly. The ash-throated flycatcher (M. cinerascens) occurs in the western United States.

The eastern phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) is a small, gray-backed species that ranges widely in eastern North America south of the tundra. This species was named after its call, which sounds like: "fee-bee." Say's phoebe (S. saya) has a more-western distribution. Another species that says its name is the eastern wood peewee (Contopus virens) of southeastern North America, whose call sounds like: "pee-awee."

The olive-sided flycatcher (Nuttallornis borealis) is another widespread species, whose call sounds like: "whip-three-wheers," although most birders actually learn it as: "quick-three-beers."

All of the above species are lively and interesting birds, but they are not strikingly colored or patterned. However, some of the more southern species of tyrant flycatchers are quite gaudy. The scissor-tailed flycatcher (Muscivora forficata) has a light-gray back, with a pink-orange wash on the flanks, and a spectacular, forked tail that is about two-times as long as the bird's body. The kiskadee flycatcher (Pitangus sulphuratus) has a bold, black-and-white pattern on its face, and a bright-yellow belly. However, the most spectacular of the North American species is the vermilion flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus), in which the male is garbed in a dark-charcoal black and tail, but has a fiery, vermilion breast and head.