Darwin's flycatcher (''Pyrocephalus nanus'') is a
Near Threatened species
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qu ...
of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
in the family
Tyrannidae
The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) comprise a Family (biology), family of passerine birds which is found virtually throughout North America, North and South America. It is the world's largest family of birds, with more than 400 species, and is ...
, the tyrant flycatchers. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to the
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...
.
[Clements, J. F., P.C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood. 2024. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2024. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved October 23, 2024] and little vermilion flycatcher[HBW and BirdLife International (2024). Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 9. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/about-our-science/taxonomy retrieved December 23, 2024].
Taxonomy and systematics
Darwin's flycatcher was originally described as a full species ''Pyrocephalus nanus'' in 1838 by John Gould. After many taxonomic changes it was generally recognized as a subspecies of the widespread vermilion flycatcher
The vermilion flycatcher (''Pyrocephalus obscurus'') is a small passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family found throughout South America and southern North America. It is a striking exception among the generally drab Tyrannidae due to its v ...
(''P. rubinus'' ''sensu lato
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...
''). A molecular phylogenetic
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
study published in 2016 suggested that it be treated as a full species.BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
's ''Handbook of the Birds of the World
The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...
'' (HBW) recognized the split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, enter ...
in 2016.[BirdLife International (2016) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 9. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/BirdLife_Checklist_Version_90.zip] The IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...
followed suit in January 2017, the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society
The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its ...
in 2020, the Clements taxonomy
''The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' is a book by Jim Clements which presents a list of the bird species of the world.
The most recent printed version is the sixth edition (2007), but has been updated yearly, the last version in 202 ...
in 2021, and the AOS North American Classification Committee in 2022.[Clements, J. F., P.C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, 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/ retrieved August 30, 2021][R. Terry Chesser, Shawn M. Billerman, Kevin J. Burns, Carla Cicero, Jon L. Dunn, Blanca E. Hernández-Baños, Rosa Alicia Jiménez, Andrew W. Kratter, Nicholas A. Mason, Pamela C. Rasmussen, J. V. Remsen, Jr., Douglas F. Stotz, and Kevin Winker. "Sixty-third supplement to the American Ornithological Society s ''Check-list of North American Birds''". ''American Ornithology'' 2022, vol. 139:1-13 retrieved August 9, 2022]
Description
Darwin's flycatcher is about long and weighs . Adult males have a bright vermilion, scarlet, or orange forehead and crown down to the eye. Their lores and ear coverts
A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail.
Ear coverts
The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...
are blackish brown and form a "mask" that continues around their nape. Their upperparts, wings, and tail are blackish brown, with slightly paler remiges
Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the ta ...
and wing coverts. The lower part of their face, their throat, and their underparts are the same shade of red as their crown. Adult females have a grayish brown head with an indistinct grayish supercilium
The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...
. Their back, rump, wings, and tail are grayish brown that is darkest on the tail. Their throat is whitish. Their underparts progress from pale red on the breast to salmon on the undertail coverts, with thin gray streaks on the breast, sides, and flanks. Both sexes have a dark brown iris, a brownish black bill, and black to brownish black legs and feet.[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 retrieved April 16, 2025]
Distribution and habitat
Darwin's flycatcher is found on the major islands of Ecuador's Galápagos archipelago with the exception of San Cristóbal.[ It inhabits the interior and edges of somewhat humid forest in the highlands. Typical forest species are of genera '']Scalesia
''Scalesia'' is a genus in the family Asteraceae endemic to the Galapagos Islands. It contains fifteen species that grow as shrubs or trees. This is unusual, because tree species are uncommon in Asteraceae. The genus ''Scalesia'' resulted from a ...
'', ''Tournefortia
''Tournefortia'', often called soldierbushes, is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae.
It was first published under the name "Pittonia" by Charles Plumier in 1703, in honour of Joseph Pitton de Tournefort, Carl Linnaeu ...
'', and ''Zanthoxylum
''Zanthoxylum'' is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs and climbers in the Family (biology), family Rutaceae that are native to warm temperate and Subtropics, subtropical areas worldwide. It is the type gen ...
''.[
]
Behavior
Movement
Darwin's flycatcher is a year-round resident.[
]
Feeding
Darwin's flycatcher feeds mostly on flying and terrestrial insects and also includes other arthropod
Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...
s in its diet, though details are lacking. It sits on an exposed perch and chases or pounces on prey from it.[
]
Breeding
Darwin's flycatcher breeds between December and May, the rainy season. Its nest is a cup made from moss and lichens placed in a tree or shrub. Its clutch is three eggs. Nothing else is known about the species' breeding biology.[
]
Vocalization
As of April 2025 xeno-canto
xeno-canto is a citizen science project and repository in which volunteers record, upload and annotate recordings of bird calls and sounds of orthoptera and bats. Since it began in 2005, it has collected over 575,000 sound recordings from more th ...
had seven recordings of Darwin's flycatcher vocalizations and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a member-supported unit of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which studies birds and other wildlife. It is housed in the Imogene Powers Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity in Sapsucker Woods Sanctuar ...
's Macaulay Library
The Macaulay Library is the world's largest archive of animal media. It includes more than 71 million photographs, 2.6 million audio recordings, and over three hundred thousand videos covering 96 percent of the world's bird species. There are an ev ...
had 10 with no overlap between them. The species sings during an undulating circular flight display, with the song described as "loudly whispering ''chew wit''" followed by a "sharp mechanical snap". Perched birds give a similar ''chew wit'' and also "a sharp ''pew'' note".
Status
The IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
has assessed Darwin's flycatcher as Near Threatened. It has a limited range. Its "best estimate" population is 52,000 mature individuals with a possible range of 36,000 to 72,000. It is possibly extirpated from Floreana and Santa Fe islands. The species is "in serious decline" on Santa Cruz.[ " reats include competition from non-native birds like the smooth-billed ani 'Crotophaga ani'' and parasitisation from the larvae of the introduced parasitic fly, '']Philornis downsi
''Philornis downsi'', also known as the avian vampire fly, is a species of fly (Diptera, Muscidae) that was first recorded in Trinidad and Brazil in the 1990s. It has been accidentally Introduced species, introduced to the Galapagos Islands (Ecu ...
''. The Galapagos Conservation Trust "is currently supporting partners in their efforts to restore Floreana island to its former ecological glory, with the long-term goal of reintroducing locally extinct species such as the little vermilion flycatcher."
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q29168184, from2=Q55112064
Darwin's flycatcher
Endemic birds of the Galápagos Islands
Darwin's flycatcher
Darwin's flycatcher