Gray Flycatcher Similar Species Comparison
Main SpeciesGray Flycatcher
Slim pale flycatcher. Drab gray overall with a thin eyering, a pale mark in front of the eye, and pale wingbars. The bill is long and thin.
© Darren Clark / Macaulay LibraryIdaho, July 27, 2019Small gray flycatcher with a thin bill, a thin white eyering, and paler gray wingbars.
© Jack Parlapiano / Macaulay LibraryNew Mexico, August 23, 2020Small grayish flycatcher with a fairly long bill (compared to other Empidonax), a thin eyering, and darker wings with two grayish wingbars. The bill is mostly pinkish or yellowish below, usually with a blackish tip. Habitually dips its tail downward.
© Felipe Guerrero / Macaulay LibraryArizona, October 31, 2021Not all videos have sound
© Marky Mutchler / Macaulay LibraryLouisiana, January 26, 2019
© Marky Mutchler / Macaulay LibraryLouisiana, January 26, 2019
Characteristically twitches its tail up and down while perched.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryArizona, February 01, 1997Not all videos have sound
Breeds in dry woodlands and shrublands in western North America, including sagebrush and pinyon pine woodlands.
© Darren Clark / Macaulay LibraryIdaho, May 04, 2019Generally grayer than other Empidonax flycatchers, but best recognized by habit of twitching its tail downward while perched.
© Timothy Barksdale / Macaulay LibraryArizona, February 01, 1997Not all videos have sound
Similar SpeciesDusky Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatchers are best distinguished from Gray Flycatchers by behavior; they do not wag their tail down and then up like Gray Flycatchers do, instead they flick their tails upward.
© Matt Davis / Macaulay LibraryNevada, June 07, 2016Similar SpeciesHammond's Flycatcher
Hammond's Flycatchers look shorter tailed than Gray Flycatchers because their primaries extend well beyond their secondaries. They also do not wag their tails down and then up like Gray Flycatchers do.
© Brian Sullivan / Macaulay LibraryCalifornia, January 24, 2008Similar SpeciesGray Vireo
Gray Vireos have thicker bills, a rounder head, and less distinct wingbars than Gray Flycatchers.
© Ryan Shaw / Macaulay LibraryArizona, August 29, 2015Similar SpeciesWestern Wood-Pewee
Western Wood-Pewees are larger than Gray Flycatchers without an obvious eyering. Pewees tend to perch in the open and repeatedly return to the same perch while Gray Flycatchers wag their tails down and up.
© Brian Hoffe / Macaulay LibraryAlberta, June 19, 2017Rotate Your Device to Better Compare
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Species in This Family
Tyrant Flycatchers(Order: Passeriformes, Family: Tyrannidae)
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