Flycatcher

Flycatcher, common name for passerine birds of several unrelated families, many having the habit of capturing insects on the wing. In Eurasia the most widely distributed group is the true flycatchers, found on all continents and many islands. The puffback flycatchers form a small family confined to tropical Africa. The monarch flycatchers were formerly placed in the same family as the true flycatchers, but recent research indicates that the two groups are quite distinct. The monarchs are found in Africa, Asia, the East Indies, Australia, and the Pacific islands. In the Americas, the tyrant flycatchers constitute the largest family of passerine birds, with approximately 365 species.

Members of these groups have several characteristics in common. Most are relatively small and extremely active, darting quickly from their perch to snap up an insect and then returning to the same or a nearby perch. Most have flattened bills, with long bristles at the base, adaptations also found in other birds that catch flying insects. The legs and feet are usually small and weak. Many species have crests, and both the monarch flycatchers and the tyrant flycatchers contain species with greatly elongated tail feathers. Bright colors are rare in the tyrant flycatchers but common in the monarch flycatchers and a few genera of true flycatchers. The European and North American flycatchers are migratory, spending the winter in the tropics of their respective hemispheres.

Most of the tyrant flycatchers are tropical. Among the best-known North American species are the kingbirds, the phoebes, the pewees, and a group of confusingly similar small flycatchers, traditionally one of the most difficult groups for birders to identify. Most tyrant flycatchers build open nests, but some construct long pouches. The crested flycatchers nest in deserted woodpecker holes, often including a cast-off snakeskin in the nest lining. The eastern phoebe is the tamest of the flycatchers, often building its mud-based nest on a porch or in a shed.

Scientific classification: True flycatchers make up the family Muscicapidae; puffback flycatchers, the family Platysteiridae; monarch flycatchers, the family Monarchidae; and tyrant flycatchers, the family Tyrannidae. Pewees make up the genus Contopus. The group of small flycatchers that are difficult for birders to identify is the genus Empidonax. The crested flycatchers make up the genus Myiarchus. The eastern phoebe is classified as Sayornis phoebe.

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