Field Guide to Birds of North America
Gray Flycatcher
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.
Listen to Call
Voice Text
"chiwip", "chi-bit", "whit"
Interesting Facts
The Gray Flycatcher was not recognized as breeding in the United States until the early 20th century. Before that time it was thought to breed in northern Mexico and to wander northward in the fall.
The similarity of Gray and Dusky flycatchers has caused confusion for a long time. In fact, the specimen designated as the "type" for Dusky Flycatcher was actually a Gray Flycatcher. The current scientific name of the Gray, E. wrightii was the scientific name of the Dusky Flycatcher for many years.
Other Empidonax flycatchers, if they wag their tails, will wag them by jerking them up and then lowering them. A Gray Flycatcher, in contrast, will gently lower its tail, then raise it.
A group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers.
Author
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Family
Flycatcher (Tyrannidae)_blue
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Species
Empidonax wrightii
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Length6
Inches
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Wingspan9.5
Inches
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Gray Flycatcher
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. The tail is long, dark, and has white edges. Legs and feet are black.
● Song: "chiwip", "chi-bit", "whit"
● Foraging & 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.
● Breeding & 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.
● 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.
Flight Pattern
Weak fluttering flight with shallow wing beats.
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BreedingMonogamous
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PopulationFairly common
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MigrationMigratory
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Weight0.4
Ounces
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