The grey-capped flycatcher (''Myiozetetes granadensis'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

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 ...

, a member of the large tyrant flycatcher

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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 ...

. It is found in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The grey-capped flycatcher has three subspecies, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In th ...

''M. g. granadensis'' (

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

, 1862), ''M. g. occidentalis'' ( Zimmer, JT, 1937), and ''M. g. obscurior'' (

Todd Todd or Todds may refer to: Places Australia * Todd River, an ephemeral river United States * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated c ...

, 1925). At least one author has suggested that ''M. g. occidentalis'' should be merged into the nominate.Mobley, J. A. (2020). Gray-capped Flycatcher (''Myiozetetes granadensis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.grcfly1.01 retrieved June 22, 2025

Description

The grey-capped flycatcher is long and weighs . The sexes have almost the same plumage. Adult males of the nominate subspecies have a gray crown and nape with a mostly hidden orange-yellow to reddish orange patch in the center of the crown. Females sometimes have a smaller patch or none at all. Adults of both sexes have a white forehead that extends as a thin

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 ...

to just past the eye. They have dusky 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 ...

. Their upperparts are mostly olive-green with dusky to dark olive uppertail

that have paler edges. Their wings are dusky grayish brown with pale olive-green lesser coverts and olive edges on all the coverts. Their

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 ...

are dusky grayish brown with light yellowish olive or cinnamon edges. Their tail is dusky grayish brown with pale olive edges on the feathers. Their chin and throat are white to yellowish white and their underparts are bright yellow with a slight olive tinge on the sides of the breast. Juveniles have a grayish olive tinge on the crown and nape and little or no orange on the crown. Compared to adults they have lighter tawny brown or cinnamon edges on the wing coverts, wider, more tawny, edges on the tail feathers, and slightly paler underparts. Subspecies ''M. g. occidentalis'' is slightly smaller than the nominate but otherwise the same. ''M. g. obscurior'' is larger and somewhat darker than the nominate. All subspecies have a pale brownish gray iris, a stubby black bill, and black legs and feet. The grey-capped flycatcher is similar to its congener the

social flycatcher The social flycatcher (''Myiozetetes similis'') is a passerine bird from the Americas, a member of the large tyrant flycatcher family (biology), family Tyrannidae. It is found in Mexico, every Central American country, and every mainland South ...

(''M. similis''), which has a stronger black and white head pattern.Mobley, J. A. (2020). Social Flycatcher (''Myiozetetes similis''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.socfly1.01 retrieved June 21, 2025

Distribution and habitat

The grey-capped flycatcher has a

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

. The nominate subspecies is found on the Caribbean slope of eastern Honduras and Nicaragua south on the Caribbean and Pacific slopes through Costa Rica to central Panama. Subspecies ''M. g. occidentalis'' is found from

Darién Province Darién (, ; ) is a Provinces of Panama, province in Panama whose capital city is La Palma, Darién, La Palma. With an area of , it is located at the eastern end of the country and bordered to the north by the province of Panamá Province, Panam ...

in eastern Panama and west of the Andes south through northern and western Colombia into northwestern Ecuador to northern

Manabí Province Manabí () is a province in the Republic of Ecuador. Its capital is Portoviejo. The province is named after the Manabí people. Demographics Ethnic groups as of the Ecuadorian census of 2010: * Mestizo 69.7% * Montubio 19.2% * Afro-Ecuad ...

. ''M. g. obscurior'' is found apart from the other two subspecies. It ranges from the lower

Magdalena River The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...

valley in Colombia south though eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru into northern Bolivia and from the east side of Colombia's Eastern Andes into southeastern Venezuela's Amazonas and western Bolívar states and in western Brazil's northern

Roraima Roraima ( ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas t ...

, western Amazonas, and

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). It is bordered by Acre (state), Acre in the west, Amazonas, Brazil, Amazonas in the north, Mato Grosso in the east, and Bo ...

states. The grey-capped flycatcher inhabits a variety of humid landscapes in the tropical and lower subtropical zones, most of which are somewhat open. These include the edges and shrubby clearings of

evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zo ...

secondary forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has regenerated through largely natural processes after human-caused Disturbance (ecology), disturbances, such as Logging, timber harvest or agriculture clearing, or ...

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

, and agricultural areas with scattered trees. It often occurs near areas of standing water. In elevation it ranges mostly from sea level to overall but reaches in Honduras. It reaches in Costa Rica, in Colombia and Ecuador, in Peru, only in Venezuela, and in Brazil.

Behavior

Movement

The grey-capped flycatcher is assumed to be resident in most or all of its range.

Feeding

The grey-capped flycatcher feeds mostly on insects and also includes a significant amount of berries and seeds in its diet. It forages singly, in pairs, and in small family groups. Outside the breeding season large numbers may share a fruiting tree. It usually perches up to the forest's mid-level but sometimes in a treetop. It captures most insect prey in mid-air (" hawking ") and sometimes with sallies to foliage.

Breeding

The grey-capped flycatcher's breeding season has not been fully defined. It spans at least from February to June in Costa Rica, from February to May in Panama, and from September to January in Peru. It includes March in Colombia. Its nest is bulky domed cup or globe with a side entrance made from dry grass, straw, and weed stems. It typically is placed in a tree or bush between about above the ground but can be as high as up. The clutch is usually two or three eggs but clutches of four are known. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.

Vocalization

The grey-capped flycatcher's vocalizations appear to vary somewhat across its range. In Ecuador west of the Andes its dawn song is a "''kip, ki[p, kip, keeuw-kreh''" that lasts about two or three seconds. East of the Andes it sings "a faster ''kip, kip, kip, kip, kip, kip, ke-ke-kree-yí''" that lasts one or two seconds. Its Central American song is written as a "high ''djup-djup sréeeh''". It has a variety of calls including "repeated nasal ''kip'', ''bip'' or ''wic'' notes and longer ''kip-kee-kew'' or ''kip-kip-kip-it'' series" and "harsh, strident, aggressive-sounding staccato notes, ''kurr keer ch’beer, k’keer keer jeer k’beer''" when confronting others of its species.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the grey-capped flycatcher as being of Least Concern. It has a very large range and its estimated population of at least five million mature individuals is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered uncommon to common in Honduras, common in the Costa Rican lowlands and less so in the highlands, common in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, and local in Venezuela. It "thrives in secondary habitats and in agricultural and residential areas, and occurs in several national parks and other protected areas throughout its range".