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 16–23 cm (6.3–9 in) 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:
Image 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
External links