Tyrant Flycatchers Family Tyrannidae Taxonomy Order Passeriformes Suboscines

Tyrant Flycatchers: Family Tyrannidae

Taxonomy Order Passeriformes Suboscines › Ancestral passerine group › Simple, innate songs Most diverse bird family in the world! › 414 species

Taxonomy New World Suboscines Formicariidae Furnariidae Pipridae Tityridae Cotingidae Conopophagidae Thamnophilidae Rhinocryptidae

Taxonomy Old World Suboscines Eurylaimidae Philepittidae Pittidae

I’m not a Tyrannid!

Distribution Greatest diversity in the tropics Many species migratory

Adaptations Some will eat fruit, small vertebrates and even fish, but mainly adapted for insectivory Most are aerial insectivores Some groups (e. g. tyrannulets) are foliage gleaners

Adaptations Flat, wide bills with prominent rictal bristles

Nesting Small clutch (usu. 2) in the tropics; large clutch in temperate zone Nest varies from simple cup to cavity

Flycatchers in Arizona 22 regular species › Includes 20 regular breeders and 2 migrants 14 regular in Coconino County

Distinctive flycatchers Vermilion Flycatcher Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher

Indistinct Flycatcher Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet

Contopus Overall drab, crested, vested, indistinct wingbars Greater Pewee Western Wood-Pewee Olive-sided Flycatcher

Empidonax Overall small, greenish above, yellowish below, eye-ring, distinct wing-bars Hammond’s Flycatcher Dusky Flycatcher Gray Flycatcher

Empidonax Overall small, greenish above, yellowish below, eye-ring, distinct wing-bars Willow Flycatcher Cordilleran/Pacific-slope Flycatcher Buff-breasted Flycatcher

Sayornis Medium-sized, open areas, wag tails Black Phoebe Say’s Phoebe

Myiarchus Large, crested, yellow-bellied, gray-breasted, long-billed, reddish wings and tail Ash-throated Flycatcher Dusky-capped Flycatcher Brown-crested Flycatcher