Includes: Darwin's Flycatcher, San Cristobal Flycatcher
- Pyrocephalus nanus
Identification
13-14 cm
Male is dark, almost black on upperside and mask around eyes and lore. Crown usually scarlet becoming less brilliantly red going down the underside.
Female is darkest on tail, becoming greyish-brown on back and mantle and greyish with brown wash on crown. She has whitish throat and supercilium giving a hint of the mask seen in the male. Underside yellowish with faint darker grey streaks.
Juveniles not clearly described but presumably those similar to females with the strongest underside streaking are this.
Similar species
Male is pretty unique within range, female could be mistaking for Galapagos Flycatcher if seen poorly.
Distribution
Galapagos Islands where getting rarer. The subspecies on San Cristobal seems to be extinct. Threatened by habitat loss and a number of introduced species including the parasitic fly Philornis downsi.
Taxonomy
Formerly included in Vermilion Flycatcher.
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized[1]; each of these are recognized as a full species by IOC[2].
- P. n. nanus: - Darwin's Flycatcher
- Galapagos Islands except for San Cristobal Island
- P. n. dubius - San Cristobal Flycatcher
- San Cristobal (Chatham) Island, Galapagos Islands, extinct
Habitat
Associated with trees and bushes in forest and edge; mostly found in higher elevation areas except on uninhabited islets.
Behaviour
Nests in trees and bushes.
Food is captured with the bird sitting on a perch until seeing a prey; these consists of insects and similar invertebrates.
Vocalisation
Extant Galapagos birds repeats a single note with some interval.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.1 DRAFT). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.1. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Ellison, K., B. O. Wolf, and S. L. Jones (2021). Brujo Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus nanus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.brufly1.01
- SACC proposal to split Vermilion Flycatcher into several species
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Brujo Flycatcher. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 16 March 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brujo_Flycatcher
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
