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Wikipedia / Myiarchus

Myiarchus is a genus of birds in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. Most species are fairly similar in appearance and are easier to separate by voice than by plumage.

Myiarchus flycatchers are fairly large tyrant-flycatchers at 16–23cm (6.3–9in) long. They are all partially crested with a brown to gray back and head, a rufous to blackish tail and yellow to pale underparts (only exception is the rufous flycatcher with rufous underparts). They typically forage by perching on an open branch and looking outward and downward for prey, which primarily consists of insects. Once it spots a potential meal, the flycatcher rapidly and directly flies at the insect, which is normally on the exposed upper surface of a leaf or twig. It hovers briefly before the insect before grabbing it in its beak and flying away to typically a new perch.

Taxonomy

The genus Myiarchus was introduced in 1844 by the German ornithologist Jean Cabanis. The name combines the Ancient Greek muia meaning "fly" with arkhos meaning "ruler" or "chief". Cabanis did not specify a type species for the genus but this was designated as the short-crested flycatcher by George Gray in 1855.

The genus contains 22 species:

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Scientific name

Common Name

Distribution

 

Myiarchus semirufus

Rufous flycatcher

northwestern Peru

Myiarchus yucatanensis

Yucatan flycatcher

Yucatan peninsula

 

Myiarchus barbirostris

Sad flycatcher

Jamaica

 

Myiarchus tuberculifer

Dusky-capped flycatcher

Neotropics

 

Myiarchus swainsoni

Swainson's flycatcher

South America

 

Myiarchus venezuelensis

Venezuelan flycatcher

northern Venezuela and Colombia

 

Myiarchus panamensis

Panama flycatcher

Panama and Colombia

 

Myiarchus ferox

Short-crested flycatcher

South America

 

Myiarchus apical

Apical flycatcher

Colombia

 

Myiarchus cephalotes

Pale-edged flycatcher

northern Andes

 

Myiarchus phaecocephalus

Sooty-crowned flycatcher

western Ecuador and northern Peru

 

Myiarchus cinerascens

Ash-throated flycatcher

southwestern US and Mexico

 

Myiarchus nuttingi

Nutting's flycatcher

Mesoamerica

 

Myiarchus crinnitus

Great crested flycatcher

eastern North America ;winters to Central America

 

Myiarchus tyranulus

Brown-crested flycatcher

Neotropics

 

Myiarchus magnirostris

Galapagos flycatcher

Galápagos Islands

 

Myiarchus nugator

Grenada flycatcher

Grenada and St Vincent

 

Myiarchus validus

Rufous-tailed flycatcher

Jamaica

 

Myiarchus sagrae

La Sagra's flycatcher

northern Antilles

 

Myiarchus stolidus

Stolid flycatcher

Jamaica and Hispaniola

 

Myiarchus antillarum

Puerto Rican flycatcher

Puerto Rico

 

Myiarchus oberi

Lesser Antillean flycatcher

Lesser Antilles

References