The northern tufted flycatcher or simply tufted flycatcher (''Mitrephanes phaeocercus'') is a small

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 ...

in the

tyrant flycatcher The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) comprise a family of passerine birds which is found virtually throughout North and South America. It is the world's largest family of birds, with more than 400 species, and is the most diverse avian family i ...

family. It is found from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

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 ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The northern tufted flycatcher was originally described as ''Mitrephorus phaeocercus''. It was later determined that genus ''Mitrephorus'' already "belonged" to other taxa so by the

principle of priority Priority is a principle in Taxonomy (biology), biological taxonomy by which a valid scientific name is established based on the oldest available name. It is a decisive rule in Botanical nomenclature, botanical and zoological nomenclature to recogn ...

genus ''Mitrephanes'' was erected for it. The northern tufted flycatcher's further taxonomy is unsettled. The

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) is an international organization for the promotion of ornithology. It links basic and applied research and nurtures education and outreach activities. Specifically, the IOU organizes and funds global co ...

(IOC) and 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 ...

recognize these four subspecies: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 *''M. p. tenuirostris''

Brewster Brewster may refer to: People *Brewster (surname) *Brewster Kahle (born 1960), American computer technologist * Brewster H. Shaw (born 1945), American astronaut * Grace Brewster Hopper (born 1906), American computer scientist, mathematician, and ...

, 1888 *''M. p. phaeocercus'' ( Sclater, PL, 1859) *''M. p. aurantiiventris'' (

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 ...

, 1865) *''M. p. berlepschi'' Hartert, EJO, 1902

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. ...

'' adds a fifth, ''M. p. eminulus'', that the IOC and Clements include within ''M. p. berlepschi''.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, 2024Farnsworth, A. and D. J. Lebbin (2020). Tufted Flycatcher (''Mitrephanes phaeocercus''), 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.tuffly.01 retrieved April 7, 2025 Three other subspecies have been proposed but all three of those taxonomic systems include them within the IOC/Clements four subspecies. What is now the olive tufted flycatcher (''M. olivaceus'') of Peru and Bolivia was previously treated as a subspecies of the northern tufted flycatcher. The northern tufted and olive tufted flycatchers are the only species in genus ''Mitrephanes''. This article follows the four-subspecies model.

Description

The northern tufted flycatcher is long and weighs about . The sexes have the same plumage and all subspecies have an erect pointed crest. Adults of the

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. ...

''M. p. phaeocercus'' have a brown-tinged olive crown, a pale spot above the lores, and a thin buff-white

eye-ring The eye-ring of a bird is a ring of tiny feathers that surrounds the orbital ring, a ring of bare skin immediately surrounding a bird's eye. The eye-ring is often decorative, and its colour may contrast with adjoining plumage. The ring of feather ...

on an otherwise cinnamon face. Their upperparts are brownish with an olive tinge. Their wings are dusky with buff ends on the coverts that show as two

wing bar The following is a glossary of common English language terms used in the description of birds—warm-blooded vertebrates of the class Aves and the only living dinosaurs. Birds, who have and the ability to (except for the approximately 60 ext ...

s. They have whitish or pale yellow edges on their

tertials 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 tai ...

. Their tail is dusky. Their throat and breast are bright ochre to cinnamon and their belly ochre-yellow. They have a dark iris, a black

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

, an orange-yellow

mandible In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla). The jawbone i ...

, and blackish legs and feet. Juveniles have a dark brown crown with cinnamon-buff edges on its feathers and those of their upperparts. Subspecies ''M. p. tenuirostris'' is paler and duller than the nominate. ''M. p. berlepschi'' has a darker olive crown than the nominate, with yellowish lores, an olive back and breast, olive wing bars, and a bright yellow belly. ''M. p. aurantiiventris'' is intermediate between the nominate and ''berlepschi'', with medium olive upperparts and underparts tending more ochre than cinnamon.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies of the northern tufted flycatcher are found thus: *''M. p. tenuirostris'': western Mexico from southeastern

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

and southwestern Chihuahua south to western

Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...

*''M. p. phaeocercus'': mountains of eastern and central Mexico from the latitude of

Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...

south through Guatemala, northern El Salvador, and Honduras into far northeastern Nicaragua *''M. p. aurantiiventris'': from Costa Rica's central

Alajuela Province Alajuela () is a Provinces of Costa Rica, province of Costa Rica. It is located in the north-central part of the country, bordering Nicaragua to the north. It also borders the provinces of Heredia Province, Heredia to the east, San Jose Province, ...

east through Panama into the

Serranía del Darién The Serranía del Darién is a small mountain range on the border between Colombia and Panama in the area called the Darién Gap. It is located in the southeastern part of the Darién Province of Panama and the northwestern part of the Chocó ...

short of the Colombian border *''M. p. berlepschi'': from extreme eastern Panama south through western Colombia slightly into northwestern Ecuador's Esmeraldas and

Carchi Carchi () is a Provinces of Ecuador, province in Ecuador. The capital is Tulcán. The Carchi River rises on the slopes of Chiles (volcano), Chiles volcano and forms the boundary between Colombia and Ecuador near Tulcan. Rumichaca Bridge is the m ...

provinces The northern tufted flycatcher has also been observed as a

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of wandering homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants usually live in poverty and support themselves by travelling while engaging in begging, scavenging, or petty theft. In Western countries, ...

in Texas and Arizona. The northern tufted flycatcher inhabits a variety of wooded montane landscapes in the upper tropical to lower temperate zones. These including pine, pine-oak,

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

, and secondary forests and also more open areas and

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 ...

. It tends to favor the forest edges and gaps and clearings within it. In elevation if ranges between in northern Central America, between in Costa Rica, from near sea level to in Colombia, and between in Ecuador.

Behavior

Movement

The northern tufted flycatcher is mostly a year-round resident. It makes some elevational migration in Mexico.

Feeding

The northern tufted flycatcher feeds on insects. It typically forages singly or in pairs at any level of the forest but primarily at its mid-level. It sits upright on a perch and captures prey in mid-air with sallies from it (" hawking"). It often returns to the same perch, and usually "shivers" its wings and tail when landing. It does not join

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

Breeding

The northern tufted flycatcher breeds between April and June in Costa Rica and its season includes February in Colombia. Its breeding season elsewhere has not been defined. Its nest is an open cup made from moss,

liverwort Liverworts are a group of non-vascular land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry ...

s and

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

s lined with softer material. Nests have been found between about above the ground, sometimes in the saddle of dangling vine and sometimes hidden in

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

s on a tree branch. The clutch is two eggs. The incubation period, time to fledging, and details of parental care are not known.

Vocalization

The northern tufted flycatcher's dawn song is "a rapid series of high notes ''bip-bip-bip-dididi-up-bip-bip-bibibiseer''". It also sings "single or repeated ''tchwee'' or ''turee'' notes" and in the breeding season "''seeeu'' or ''seer''". Its call is ''pik'' or ''beek''".

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 the northern tufted flycatcher as being of Least Concern. It has an extremely large range; its estimated population of at least 500,000 mature individuals is believed to be decreasing. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered "fairly common" in northern Central America, "common" in Costa Rica, and "locally common" in Colombia. It occurs in two national parks in Costa Rica.