Ash-throated Flycatcher - BirdForum Opus

Photo © by ducbucln
Kelseyville, California, USA, May, 2018

Myiarchus cinerascens

Identification

Photo © by ron conley
Long Beach, California, USA, August 2004

19–20·5 cm (7½-8 in)

• Streaky gray crown
• Pale gray throat and breast
• Pale yellow underparts
• Brownish-olive upperparts
• Pale wing bars and tertial edges
• Rufous primary panel (visible on closed wing)
• Greyish-white secondary panel, made up of the edges of those feathers (except in juveniles, where secondary edges are buffy or rusty-edged secondaries making the wing less two-colored)
• Brown tail looking mostly rusty from the underside but with a dark end
• Bill dark and slim
  

The sexes are similar

Distribution

Flight
Photo © by ron conley
Long Beach, California, USA, 17 August 2004

Breeds from Washington and Wyoming south to southwestern United States, east to Texas.
Rare vagrant on Atlantic Coast in late fall (mostly November and December) with records in nearly all eastern states and provinces, when it is the only Myiarchus likely to occur.
Winters in southern California and Arizona southward to Costa Rica.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

This is a polytypic species^[1], consists of two subspecies:

• M. c. cinerascens:

• Semiarid western USA and western Mexico; winters to northern Costa Rica

• M. c. pertinax:

• South Baja California (south of latitude 29°)

Habitat

Rocky canyons to 5500 ft, hillsides, low mixed oak and pine forest, oak woodland, transitional chaparral and hedgerows.

Behaviour

Breeding

The clutch contains three to four eggs. The nest which is built in a tree cavity or similar natural or man-made hole.

Diet

The diet consists of arthropods and insects during the breeding season.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Cardiff, S. W. and D. L. Dittmann (2020). Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.astfly.01
3. Wikipedia
4. BF Member observations
5. Birdforum thread discussing id of this species

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Ash-throated Flycatcher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Ash-throated_Flycatcher

External Links

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