Most predation occurs during the nesting stage, as eggs and young are vulnerable and make easy prey for predators. The most common predators of Myiarchus crinitus are snakes, and observations have been made of indigo snakes, yellow rat snakes, and corn snakes eating eggs, young, and adults.
Known Predators:
Myiarchus crinitus uses auditory and physical body postures as main forms of communication. This species is recognized by its distinctive, loud, and somewhat raspy, "wree-eep" calls. These are often given between pairs or to young as contact calls. During territorial disputes, a shortened version of this call is given in rapid, ascending succession that is described as "wit-wit-wit". Myiarchus crinitus also gives a quieter "churr" call that is mostly given between individuals of a mated pair. At dawn during the breeding season, males give different versions of their entire repertoire to establish their territory. In addition to giving rapid harsh calls during territorial disputes, individuals often hunch low over their perch, flit and fan the tail feathers, and erect the feathers on the top of the head to appear crested. If the intruder does not retreat, Myiarchus crinitus will use physical aggression until the intruder is chased out. Myiarchus crinitus is even slightly aggressive in its courtship rituals. During pair formation, males will aerially chase potential mates, often into a nesting cavity. Occasionally, mates will perform short duets that consist of the "wree-eep" call given nearly at the same time. Like most birds, Myiarchus crinitus perceives its environment through auditory, visual, tactile, and chemical stimuli.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Currently, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) considers Myiarchus crinitus to be of least concern as it has a large geographic range and population numbers are high and stable. Like most birds, this species is negatively affected by several human activities including pesticide use, large man-made structures built in migratory pathways, and conversion of forests to urban or agricultural areas. These activities result in decreased food availability, collision mortality, and habitat loss, respectively. One large concern for all cavity nesting species is the loss of standing dead trees (snags) during "clean" forestry practices where these trees are often removed for aesthetic reasons. Snags are critical for these species as they provide highly suitable locations for nest cavities. In some areas, nest boxes have been employed to provide alternative nesting sites. Nesting success within these nest boxes is overall comparable to that of natural cavities and may be a viable management tool if habitats continue to decline.
US Migratory Bird Act: protected
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
There are no known adverse effects of Myiarchus crinitus on humans.
Currently, Myiarchus crinitus provides no known economic benefits to humans.
As primarily an insectivore, Myiarchus crinitus likely plays a significant role in controlling local insect populations. Eggs, young, and even adults may serve as prey for local predators such as snakes. This secondary cavity nester may compete for nesting sites with other cavity nesting species such as red-headed (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) and red-bellied woodpeckers (M. carolinus), eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis), house wrens (Troglodytes aedon), tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), and red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus). Exact levels of competition are unknown, but there has been an instance where a pair of Myiarchus crinitus displaced a roosting Melanerpes carolinus from a nest box.
Myiarchus crinitus is also host for a variety of insects and parasites, primarily during the nesting stage as cavities are sheltered, enclosed habitats that provide suitable habitat for parasites to thrive. Four orders of insects have been found residing in Myiarchus crinitus nests including Diptera, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Psocoptera. Two species of subcutaneous fly larvae (Neomusca porteri and Protocalliphora hirudo) have been found residing in nestlings but seem to have little effect on nestling survival. Nestling Myiarchus crinitus are also hosts to at least one species of mite (Ornithonyssus bursa), mainly in northern temperate habitats.
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
Myiarchus crinitus is an insectivorous species, but will occasionally eat fruits, particularly during the non-breeding season. This species primarily employs hover-gleaning methods to aerially snatch prey from the surface of foliage. It often forages from a perch within the upper canopy of green trees, notably higher than many of its insectivorous neighbors. Common prey items include butterflies and moths, beetles, grasshoppers and crickets, bees and wasps, flies, and spiders. Necropsies have shown some individuals occasionally eat green anoles. Types of fruits consumed have not been reported.
Animal Foods: reptiles; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Plant Foods: fruit
Primary Diet: carnivore (Insectivore )
Commonly known as great crested flycatchers, Myiarchus crinitus inhabits the Nearctic and Neotropical regions of North, Central and South America. This migratory flycatcher breeds across the eastern half of the United States and the southern edge of Canada. During the non-breeding season, Myiarchus crinitus may be found in southern Central America and northeast South America. Some Myiarchus crinitus may inhabit the southern tip of Florida and Cuba year-round.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
Myiarchus crinitus is a forest-dwelling species that prefers deciduous or mixed-deciduous woodlands. This species is found in habitats with a semi-open canopy or forest edge. Urban areas with large canopy trees also provide habitat for this species. Myiarchus crinitus is an obligate, secondary cavity breeder and during the breeding season will seek out forests that provide snags and pre-made cavities.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban
Though little data exists, lifespan for Myiarchus crinitus ranges from 2 to 10 years old. Lifespan estimates for this species are difficult to assess as few individuals return to their natal area. The maximum recorded lifespan comes from an individual that was recaptured 14 years after being banded as an adult. Possible causes of mortality include predation during the nesting stage, collisions with man-made structures during migration, and exposure to pesticides.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: >14 (high) years.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 2 to 10 years.
Myiarchus crinitus is a large flycatcher with similar, yet brighter colors than others of the genus. It measures 22.2 cm in length, with a wingspan of 33.0 cm, and weighs in at 34 g. The dark gray head is large, rounded, and slightly domed or crested at the top. This species features a heavy, thick bill that is mostly black with an extensive, pale base. The gray coloration on the head is darkest on the top, then lightens and extends through the throat and breast, where it contrasts with the bright yellow belly and underside. The back is dark olive that blends into dark flight feathers edged in white. Secondary feathers are a bright rufous, as are the tail feathers. Legs and feet are dark brown to black. This species does not display any sexual dimorphism.
Juveniles are difficult to distinguish from adults but are overall duller in coloration. Slight differentiation may be discernible in a bird in the hand, where cinnamon-tinged upper tail coverts, broader rufous edges of primaries, and cinnamon terminal edges of wing coverts may be visible.
Average mass: 34 g.
Average length: 22.2 cm.
Average wingspan: 33.0 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Myiarchus crinitus is a monogamous species and does not exhibit elaborate courtship rituals, but males often aerially pursue females and chase them into the nesting cavity. Males aggressively defend and guard their mates throughout the breeding season. Pair bonds vary in duration as some pairs return to breed together for several years and others select new mates each season. Individuals have strong site fidelity and often return to the same location to breed every year, regardless of whether or not they pair with the same mate.
Mating System: monogamous
Myiarchus crinitus is a migratory species that travels northward during the spring and summer to breed each year. They migrate from April to May and males will begin establishing territories shortly after arrival in May. After pair formation, both the male and female survey potential nesting cavities. The female completes most or all of the nest construction process once a cavity is chosen. She selects a wide variety of nesting materials including leaves, fur, feathers, string, grass, bark, snakeskin, and human trash, with which she nearly fills the cavity. Females lay between 4 and 8 (typically 5) buffy eggs, streaked with brown or purple. Females perform all incubation which lasts 13 to 15 days. The young are altricial at hatching and weigh an average 3.0 g. At 13 to 15 days of age the young fledge but remain together in a family group for up to 3 weeks post-fledging. These juveniles are able to breed during the following breeding season.
Breeding interval: Great crested flycatchers breed once yearly.
Breeding season: Great crested flycatchers breed between May and mid-July.
Range eggs per season: 4 to 8.
Average eggs per season: 5.
Range time to hatching: 13 to 15 days.
Range fledging age: 13 to 15 days.
Range time to independence: 3 (high) weeks.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 1 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 1 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
Myiarchus crinitus young are altricial at birth, which requires a significant investment from both parents. Before eggs are laid, females construct a safe and secure nest while males aggressively defend the surrounding territory. After the female lays a clutch, she is the sole incubator while the male continues to defend and protect her and their nest. Both parents participate in nest sanitation once the eggs hatch, and they actively remove eggshells, fecal sacs, and food remnants a good distance away from the cavity. Both parents also provide food for the young, although females more frequently than males. Nestlings are fed a variety of insects, which are caught and presented to the young without regurgitation. After nestlings have fledged, the entire family remains together for 3 weeks, during which time both parents continue to feed and defend their fledglings.
Parental Investment: altricial ; male parental care ; female parental care ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)
A medium-sized (8-9 inches) flycatcher, the Great Crested Flycatcher is most easily identified by its olive head and back, brownish tail, and bright yellow belly. Other field marks include a gray breast and throat, faint white wing bars, and a thick black bill. Male and female Great Crested Flycatchers are similar to one another at all seasons. The Great Crested Flycatcher breeds across much of the eastern United States and southern Canada west to the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. In winter, this species migrates south primarily to southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Small numbers spend the winter in southern Florida. Great Crested Flycatchers breed in a variety of open woodland habitat types. In winter, this species may be found in clearings and edges of humid tropical forests. Great Crested Flycatchers primarily eat insects, but may also eat fruits and berries at any time of the year. Great Crested Flycatchers may be observed flying out from perches to catch insects in the air or “hovering” near vegetation while picking insects off leaves and twigs. In the breeding season, males sing a loud “wheeeep!” song, although this is generally performed from perches hidden in the canopy. Great Crested Flycatchers are primarily active during the day, but, like many migratory songbirds, this species often migrates at night.
A medium-sized (8-9 inches) flycatcher, the Great Crested Flycatcher is most easily identified by its olive head and back, brownish tail, and bright yellow belly. Other field marks include a gray breast and throat, faint white wing bars, and a thick black bill. Male and female Great Crested Flycatchers are similar to one another at all seasons. The Great Crested Flycatcher breeds across much of the eastern United States and southern Canada west to the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains. In winter, this species migrates south primarily to southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Small numbers spend the winter in southern Florida. Great Crested Flycatchers breed in a variety of open woodland habitat types. In winter, this species may be found in clearings and edges of humid tropical forests. Great Crested Flycatchers primarily eat insects, but may also eat fruits and berries at any time of the year. Great Crested Flycatchers may be observed flying out from perches to catch insects in the air or “hovering” near vegetation while picking insects off leaves and twigs. In the breeding season, males sing a loud “wheeeep!” song, although this is generally performed from perches hidden in the canopy. Great Crested Flycatchers are primarily active during the day, but, like many migratory songbirds, this species often migrates at night.
The great crested flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) is a large insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. It is the most widespread member of the genus Myiarchus in North America, and is found over most of the eastern and mid-western portions of the continent.[2] It dwells mostly in the treetops and rarely is found on the ground.[3]
Adult great crested flycatchers usually measure between 17–21 cm (6.7–8.3 in) in length with a wingspan of around 34 cm (13 in). This bird usually weighs between 27–40 g (0.95–1.41 oz).[3]
The great crested flycatcher does not display sexual dimorphism. All adults are brownish on the upperparts with yellow underparts; they have a long rusty brown tail and a bushy crest. Their throat and breast are grey.
Their breeding habitat is deciduous or mixed forests across eastern North America. They nest in a cavity in a tree. Usually a snake skin is included in the lining of the nest, but sometimes a plastic wrapper is substituted.
They wait on a high perch and fly out to catch insects in flight. Sometimes they may be seen hovering to pick food off vegetation, buildings, and even windows. They also eat fruits and berries.
The call of these birds is a whistled weep.
The great crested flycatcher's habitat selection may vary slightly with different populations, but can be most often found breeding in deciduous forests and at edges of clearings and mixed woodlands. They also show a tendency to favour landscapes with open canopy, such as second growth forests or woodlands that have been subjected to selective cutting, and also appears to avoid coniferous dominant habitats such as the Canadian boreal forest.[4]
The summer breeding ground covers all eastern, mid-eastern and parts of central United States, including Northern and Southern parts of Florida, parts of Texas, central Oklahoma, and eastern and central North Dakota.[5]
In Canada, it is limited to southern Manitoba, extreme southern portions of the St-Lawrence forest of Ontario, Quebec, northeast Nova Scotia and parts of Prince Edward Island.[6]
Its winter range includes most of southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, and extends along the coasts of Central America. In southern peninsular Florida, Great Crested flycatcher can be found year-round.[4] They migrate to Mexico and South America, as well as to Florida and the Caribbean.
Males will sing a three-part song composed of two short whistles: a wheerreep followed by a higher-pitched whee, and a soft low churr. This song is meant to be heard by a mate at short distances, indicating periods of low disturbance and stress typically intensifying just before dawn. It is appropriately named "dawn song" (or twilight song).[7][8]
In addition to the dawn song, great crested flycatcher also produce various calls, a series of fast ascending huit, huit, huit is given in moments of stress or excitement during interactions of between neighbours.[8] The most characteristic sound is perhaps a single loud whee-eep, called out to communicate between mates or parents and young birds. A faster repetition of this call often signal predators in proximity to nests and young.[8] A rapid succession of harsh-sounds rasps signals alarm or stress often heard during territorial disputes between neighbouring birds[8][9]
The great crested flycatcher is primarily an insectivore, with insects and other invertebrates making up for the majority of its diet, but will also consume small portion of small fruits and berries. Despite the "flycatcher" of the bird's name, flies, along with spiders, make up only a small percentage of its diet; it prefers prey such as butterflies, moths, beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, and bees and wasps.[10]
Great crested flycatchers will use a variety of hunting tactics, although the most common method observed is a rather passive sit-and-wait strategy. Perched in high canopies, they search in all direction often accompanied by a characteristic head bobbing. Once they have spotted a potential prey, they swoop down and will pursue if they missed on the first dive.[5] They can also be seen abruptly braking and hovering, picking insects or small fruits off of leaves, trunks or other surfaces, sometimes crashing into the foliage in the process.[5][8]
Fruits and berries, when consumed are swallowed whole and the pits later regurgitated.[8]
Nest building begins as early as mid April for populations of the southern distribution,[11] and as late as June for northern populations (i.e. Manitoba).[9]
Great crested flycatchers are socially monogamous[12] with chances of pairs reforming in following years, given that both members of the pair survive the winter.[6] Pairs have been observed to attempt copulation from the beginning of nest building all the way to the hatching of young, sometimes during the nest building process; this is thought to be a strategy developed by males in order to prevent female infidelity.[11] Mating ritual for the great crested flycatcher is described as males swooping down from a high perch in order to initiate mating with females, sometimes hovering near hideaway if female retreats, before returning to perch and repeating diving routine until mating is successful.[6]
Although both parents will inspect potential sites, building of the nest is done almost entirely by the female, while the male closely guards its mate.[12] Cavities that are large enough in size and opening are the preferred nesting sites, whether naturally occurring or excavated by other species (8) as well as use nesting boxes and other man-made structures.[12] Most chosen cavities are situated between 2m and 6m off the forest ground (11,15). The nest itself is built within 2 to 4 days and is composed mostly of vegetation and plant fibers, such as grasses, moss, leaves, but also pieces of animal fur and feathers, pieces of shed snakeskin, and artificial materials (ex: strings, tape, cloth, and plastic objects).[12] The inner diameter ranges from 7–9 cm.[12]
Great crested flycatchers lay a single clutch of 4-8 eggs, which are incubated on average for two weeks by the female only.[9][12][13] After hatching, nestlings will typically spend another two weeks in the nest before fledging. During this time, nestlings are fed an insect dominated diet by both parents, although females will make more frequent visits.[12][13]
.jpg)
Parida Island, Panama
Offset reproduction of watercolor
In Central Florida
Barnegat NJ
Barnegat NJ
The great crested flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) is a large insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family. It is the most widespread member of the genus Myiarchus in North America, and is found over most of the eastern and mid-western portions of the continent. It dwells mostly in the treetops and rarely is found on the ground.
