- Empidonomus varius
Identification
18–19 cm (7-7½ in)
- Dark brown, black scaled upperparts
- Thick dark brown eye-line
- Pale face
- Thin brown moustachial stripe
- Dark-streaked, pale yellow underparts
- Dark wing feathers with pale edges
- Dark tail feathers with thick rufous edges
- Black upper mandible
- Lower mandible is dark with yellow base
Sexes are similar
Similar Species
Very similar to the more common Piratic Flycatcher which is smaller and lacks the rufous upper tail. Smaller, and smaller billed than Streaked Flycatcher.
Distribution
South America: found in Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina.
It is a vagrant to the United States and Canada.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized[1]:
- E. v. rufinus:
- E. v. varius:
A third subspecies is sometimes recognized: jelskii[2].
Habitat
Open areas, savannas, gallery forests and borders, and more rarely actual woodland.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on both insects and fruits. The austral migrant subspecies appear to eat more fruit than the residential birds.
Movements
Northern South American birds are resident while southern birds migrate north during winter.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Mobley, J. & Kirwan, G.M. (2019). Variegated Flycatcher (Empidonomus varius). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/57474 on 29 July 2019).
- Variegated Flycatcher (Empidonomus varius), In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/varfly
- What Bird
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Variegated Flycatcher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Variegated_Flycatcher
