BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Myiarchus crinitus
Great Crested Flycatcher
| Scientific Name: | Myiarchus crinitus (Linnaeus, 1758) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Name: | Great Crested Flycatcher | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | B-GCFL | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Apr 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | SNA (Apr 2026) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Accidental | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Migratory Bird Convention Act: | Y | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | Male has olive-brown body and head crest, pale gray breast and throat, yellow abdomen, long rufous tail, and cinnamon wings with white wing bars (illustrated in NGS 1987). Measurements: length, 32.4-35.6 cm; mass, 28-42.5 g. Female is similar but may be duller. Immature/fledgling patterns are similar to the adult, colors may be duller. NEST: bulky mass of twigs, leaves, hair, feathers, bark fibers, rope, or other trash; almost always includes cast-off snakeskin or cellophane pieces; a small cup for the eggs is formed in the trashy surroundings; lined with finer material and feathers. EGGS: creamy-white, yellowish, or pinkish-white; marked with dark brown and purple, scratches, lines, streaks or blotches; markings are sometimes concentrated at one end, may almost obliterate ground color, or may be as fine hairlines, as if drawn by a pen. See Terres (1980), Harrison (1975), and Bent (1942). |
||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Males closely follow and may guard their mates during the fertile period (MacDougall-Shackleton and Robertson 1995). Taylor and Kershner (1991) reported that females build the nests. However, other reports indicate varying degrees of male assistance (Harrison 1975, Bent 1942). Nest building can take as long as two weeks. In central Florida, clutches were initiated from mid-April to early June, the latest clutches being renesting attempts by birds whose first nest was destroyed (Taylor and Kershner 1991). Clutch size is 4-8 (usually 5-6). Incubation, by female, lasts 13-15 days. Female broods hatchlings for 6 days. Young are tended by both parents (Morrison 1988), leave nest at 13-15 days (Taylor and Kershner 1991) or 12-18 days. Family group stays together for at least a few weeks after young fledge (Taylor and Kershner 1991, Terres 1980, Harrison 1975, Bent 1942). Taylor and Kershner (1991) reported one brood per season. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: |
Via (1979) compared habitat structure and foraging tactics of flycatchers in southwestern Virginia. His findings suggest that uniform forest types could harbor multiple species of flycatchers. Utilization of different habitat features may assist in segregation of overlapping territories. These segregating features include: vertical stratification of perches; habitat preference based on substrate diversity; and foraging tactics that exploit available resources. Longer foraging flights appear to segregate the great crested from other flycatchers. These foraging flights are associated with capture of larger prey. May hold individual territory in winter (Stiles and Skutch 1989). |
||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
|
Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / Y / na / |
||||||||||
| Global Migration Comments: | Arrives in nesting areas March-May (Terres 1980). In central Florida, males arrive in late March, females 7-12 days later (Taylor and Kershner 1991). Arrives in Costa Rica late September or early October, departs by mid- to late April, occasionally early May (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Present in Colombia mid-October to early May (Hilty and Brown 1986). | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
|||||||||||
| Global Habitat Comments: |
BREEDING: deciduous (mainly), mixed, or pine woodland or somewhat open forest (Hamel et al. 1982, Hamel 1992), parks, orchards, wooded residential areas, areas of scattered trees in cultivated regions, clearings and edges of wooded areas, and swamps. Frequents upper levels of trees. Research on canopy selection and flight length indicates a preference for open canopies where unhampered foraging flights can occur (Via 1979). Preferred perches are tall trees, but may also be found on utility lines and short shrub-like growth in recent clearcuts (Via 1979). Nests in natural cavity or old woodpecker hole in live or dead tree, average of 3-6 m above ground; also in bird box, pipe or similar cavity. Morrison (1988) suggested a preference for nestboxes that are hung from trees as opposed to stationary boxes; the former may be less likely to be used by starlings. NON-BREEDING: prefers habitat similar to that used in breeding season (Hamel et al. 1982, Hamel 1992). Found mostly in lowland forest, woodland (AOU 1983), and humid to semiarid forest and edge (Howell and Webb 1995). In Colombia: humid forest borders, shrubby clearings, and second growth, occasionally canopy of undisturbed forest (Hilty and Brown 1986). In migration, found generally in wooded habitats (Howell and Webb 1995). |
||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
|
||||||||||
| Global Food Habits Comments: | Eats insects (beetles, bees, wasps, sawflies, houseflies, stable flies, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, crickets, cicadas, katydids, moths and butterflies, true bugs, caterpillars) and spiders; also small fruits (e.g., mulberries, pokeberries, blackberries, raspberries, wild black cherries, and wild grapes (Morrison 1988, Terres 1980, Bent 1949). Flycatches high in canopy; in spring before full foliage development, also takes insects from or near ground and from crevices of bark (Bent 1942). Young are fed mainly insects. Often occurs at fruiting trees and shrubs on wintering grounds (Hilty and Brown 1986). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: |
Diurnal: Adult, Immature
|
||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
|||||||||||
| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 22/ / 34 | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
||||||||||
| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | BREEDING: east-central Alberta, central Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba east across southern Canada to Nova Scotia, south to southern Texas, Gulf Coast, and southern Florida, west to eastern Dakotas, eastern Nebraska, western Kansas, and central Oklahoma (AOU 1983). NON-BREEDING: central and southern Florida and Cuba, and from southern Mexico (Veracruz, Oaxaca, Yucatan Peninsula) to northern South America (Colombia, eastern Ecuador [few records], and western Venezuela [casual]) (AOU 1983, Hilty and Brown 1986). MIGRATION: Occurs regularly through eastern New Mexico and eastern Mexico (west at least to Nuevo Leon and Guanajuato), casually west to Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado (AOU 1983). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | HAMMERSON, G., AND N. ZELLER | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | May 15, 1996 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp. |
|||||||||||
Bent, A.C. 1942. Life histories of North American flycatchers, larks, swallows, and their allies. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 179. Washington, DC. |
|||||||||||
Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio. |
|||||||||||
Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp. |
|||||||||||
Hilty, S.L. and W. L. Brown. 1986. A Guide to the Birds of Colombia. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA. 836 pp. |
|||||||||||
Mitchell, W. A. 1988. Songbird nest boxes. Section 5.1.8, US Army Corps of Engineers Wildlife Resources Management Manual. Tech. Rep. EL-88-19. Waterways Expt. Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi. 48 pp. |
|||||||||||
Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp. |
|||||||||||
Taylor, W. K., and M. A. Kershner. 1991. Breeding biology of the great crested flycatcher in central Florida. J. Field Ornithol. 62:28-39. |
|||||||||||
Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. |
|||||||||||
Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1996. Species Summary: Myiarchus crinitus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Nov 9, 2026).