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Dusky Flycatcher

Empidonax oberholseri ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: TYRANNIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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Dusky Flycatcher Photo

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

A dull flycatcher of western mountains, the Dusky Flycatcher is found in chaparral, streamside thickets, and open brushy areas. It is extremely difficult to tell from Hammond's Flycatcher by appearance alone.

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Appearance

Flycatchers
Flycatchers
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • Small flycatcher.
  • Prominent eyering and wingbars.
  • Back grayish.
  • Underparts whitish, with some yellowish wash.

Immature Description

Similar to adult, but wingbars broader and more buff, lower mandible mostly yellow.

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Field MarksHelp

  • Adult
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    Dusky Flycatcher

    Adult
    • Worn spring plumage
    • © 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Channel Islands, California, April 2000

Similar Species

  • Closely resembles Hammond's and Gray flycatchers. Habitat, song, and sometimes range are the best ways to distinguish among these species. Gray Flycatcher's downward tail wagging is distinctive; other Empidonax flycatchers flick their tails upward.
  • Gray and Hutton's vireos also are small, drab, birds with white wingbars, but the vireos have a more horizontal perching posture and narrow, hooked bills.