General

Gray Flycatcher: Small flycatcher with gray or olive-gray upperparts and pale gray underparts. Eye-ring is white. Upper mandible is dark gray, while lower mandible is pale pink with black tip. Wings are dark with two white bars. Tail is long, dark, and has white edges. Sexes are similar. Repeatedly lowers tail slowly and then quickly lifts it back up.

Range and Habitat

Gray Flycatcher: Breeds from extreme southern British Columbia and southwestern Wyoming south through California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Spends winters in southern California, southern Arizona, southern Texas, and central-western Mexico. Sagebrush and pinyon-juniper woodlands are its preferred habitats.

Breeding and Nesting

Gray Flycatcher: Three or four creamy white eggs are laid in a grass-woven cup nest built low in a sagebrush or small tree. Eggs are incubated for approximately 14 days by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Gray Flycatcher: Hunts from a perch and catches food in mid-air or on the ground. Diet consists mainly of small insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, and moths.

Vocalization

Gray Flycatcher: Song is in two parts, rising in tone: "chiwip" or "chi-bit." Call is a soft "whit."

Similar Species

Gray Flycatcher: Hammond's and Dusky Flycatchers are best told apart by song and habitat. Gray Flycatcher wags its tail downward instead of upward.