Dusky-capped Flycatcher

About the Dusky-capped Flycatcher

A small, subtly handsome flycatcher of the mountain woodlands, the Dusky-capped Flycatcher is the most petite of its crested Myiarchus group, olive-brown above with a darker cap, a gray throat, and a soft lemon-yellow belly. Quiet in manner, it is best located by its distinctive voice.

That voice is a plaintive, downslurred whistle - a mournful wheeer that drifts through the canyon and, once learned, is the surest way to find one. Dusky-capped Flycatchers sally after insects from perches within the trees and also take small fruit.

In Texas the Dusky-capped Flycatcher is a rare, local warm-season bird of the wooded mountain canyons of the Trans-Pecos, such as Big Bend, at the very edge of its largely Mexican range - a sought-after specialty.

A note from behind the lens: listen for that sad whistle to lead you to a bird working the mid-canyon woodland. Be patient for it to move to an open perch, use the soft light filtering through the oaks, and keep the background clean and distant.