Dusky Flycatcher

The Dusky Flycatcher is a small, subtly patterned Empidonax flycatcher found in relatively open, brushy habitats of the western mountains, favoring forest edges, clearings, and shrubby second growth rather than dense, closed-canopy forest. It shows grayish-olive upperparts, a modest whitish eye-ring, pale wing bars, and a faintly yellowish wash on the lower underparts, closely resembling several other small western Empidonax species.

As with most members of this genus, confident identification typically requires attention to voice, habitat, and subtle structural cues such as bill length and primary projection, rather than plumage alone.

Key Field Marks

• Grayish-olive upperparts with a whitish eye-ring, moderate in width
• Two pale wing bars
• Pale grayish-white throat and breast with a faint yellowish wash on the belly
• Intermediate primary projection and bill length compared to Hammond's and Gray Flycatchers

Similar Species

• Hammond's Flycatcher has a longer primary projection and shorter bill, and favors denser, more closed-canopy forest.
• Gray Flycatcher is paler overall, has a longer bill and tail, and characteristically dips its tail downward rather than flicking it upward.
• Voice remains the most reliable way to distinguish Dusky Flycatcher from its close relatives.

Dusky Flycatchers breed in open montane habitats of the western United States and southwestern Canada, including shrubby forest edges, aspen groves, chaparral, and areas of regenerating conifer forest after fire or logging, generally at middle to higher elevations in the mountains.

The species winters mainly in Mexico, migrating through the interior western United States each spring and fall.

Voice

Gives a soft song of three distinct phrases, often rendered as sillit, gray-peet, brrk, along with a sharp whit call note, useful for separating it from similar species.

Feeding

Sallies from a low to mid-level perch in open, shrubby habitat to catch flying insects, and also gleans prey from foliage.

Nesting

Builds a compact cup nest of grass, bark strips, and plant fibers, typically placed in the fork of a shrub or small tree at low to moderate height.