The ash-throated flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens ) is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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InsectivoresAn insectivore is a carnivorous plant or animal that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of e...
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ZoochoryZoochory animals are those that can disperse plant seeds in several ways. Seeds can be transported on the outside of vertebrate animals (mostly mam...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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MonogamyMonogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
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MigratingAnimal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
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starts withThe ash-throated flycatcher is a medium-sized tyrant flycatcher, measuring 7.5 to 8.6 in (19 to 22 cm) in length with a wingspan of 11.8 to 12.6 in (30 to 32 cm) and a mass of 0.7 to 1.3 oz (20 to 37 g). Overall, it is slim and long-tailed, with a slightly peaked crest on its relatively large head. The upperparts are olive brown, with a darker head and short crest. The breast is gray and the belly is a very pale yellow. The brown tail feathers and wings have rufous outer webs, and there are two dull wing bars. The sexes are similar.
It breeds in desert scrub, riparian forest, brushy pastures and open woodland from the western United States to central Mexico. It is a short-distance migrant, retreating from most of the U.S. and northern and central Mexico, spending the winter from southern Mexico to Honduras. This bird is also prone to wander, with single birds often seen outside its normal breeding range as far away as the east coast of North America.
This species is primarily an insectivore that flies from a perch to catch prey from the ground or from foliage in the undergrowth, less often from branches and trunks, hardly ever in midair. Unlike many other tyrant flycatchers, it often moves on to another perch rather than returning to the same one. It also takes some fruit, especially in winter if insects are unavailable. Rarely, it takes small mammals and reptiles, which it kills by banging them against hard objects.
The nest is built in a tree cavity or similar natural or man-made hole, and the normal clutch is three or four eggs.
Because of its extensive range, very large population, and generally increasing numbers, the ash-throated flycatcher has been listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It is one of the species protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. In the United States, the creation of bluebird trails, a network of nest boxes put out for the continent's three bluebird species, may benefit ash-throated flycatchers as they will also use the boxes.