Boat-billed flycatcher
The boat-billed flycatcher is a large member of the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Mexico, in every Central American country, on Trinidad, and in every mainland South American country though only as a vagrant in Chile.
Taxonomy and systematics
The boat-billed flycatcher was originally described as Lanius pitangua, mistakenly placing it in the shrike family. It was eventually moved to its present genus Megarynchus that was erected in 1824. That name is from the Greek "μεγα" meaning "much" and "ῥυγχος" meaning "bill". The specific epithet derives from the Tupi language name for the bird, "Pitanguá guacú".The boat-billed flycatcher is the only member of its genus and has these six subspecies:
- M. p. tardiusculus Moore, RT, 1941
- M. p. caniceps Ridgway, 1906
- M. p. mexicanus
- M. p. deserticola Griscom, 1930
- M. p. pitangua
- M. p. chrysogaster Sclater, PL, 1860
Description
The boat-billed flycatcher is long and weighs. The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies M. p. pitangua have a blackish brown or sooty crown with a mostly hidden yellow to orange-rufous patch in the center. They have a wide white supercilium that begins at the forehead and wraps almost all the way around the nape, a wide black band from the lores to the ear coverts, and white cheeks. They have olive to dull brownish olive upperparts. Their wings are dusky brownish, usually with thin pale cinnamon or rufous edges on the flight feathers. Their tail is dusky brownish with thin pale cinnamon or rufous outer feather edges. Their throat is white and their underparts bright yellow. Juveniles lack the crown patch, have a yellow tinge on the supercilium, and have darker and more brownish upperparts and wider cinnamon edges on the flight feathers than adults.The other subspecies of the boat-billed flycatcher differ from the nominate and each other thus:
- M. p. mexicanus: brighter, more greenish olive upperparts and no rufous on the tail feathers
- M. p. caniceps: grayer crown and more grayish olive upperparts than mexicanus
- M. p. tardiusculus: similar to mexicanus and caniceps
- M. p. deserticola: similar to mexicanus and caniceps
- M. p. chrysogaster: tawny-orange crown patch; more prominent rufous edges on upperwing coverts and flight feathers and richer yellow underparts
The boat-billed flycatcher is somewhat similar to the great kiskadee and the social flycatcher but is larger, has a much heavier bill, and has more olivaceous upperparts and browner wings and tail than they.
Distribution and habitat
The subspecies of the boat-billed flycatcher are found thus:- M. p. tardiusculus: western Mexico from southwestern Sinaloa south into western Nayarit
- M. p. caniceps: southwestern Jalisco in western Mexico
- M. p. mexicanus: from southern Tamaulipas in eastern and Guerrero in western Mexico south through Central America including some offshore islands into northwestern Colombia's Chocó Department
- M. p. deserticola: valley of the Negro River in central Guatemala
- M. p. pitangua: Trinidad; northern, central, and eastern Colombia; most of Venezuela; the Guianas; eastern Ecuador and Peru, all of Brazil south to Rio Grande do Sul; northern and eastern Bolivia; Paraguay, extreme northern Uruguay; and northeastern Argentina south into Corrientes Province
- M. p. chrysogaster: disjunctly west of the Andes from western Esmeraldas Province in northwestern Ecuador south into far northern Peru's Tumbes and northern Piura departments
The boat-billed flycatcher inhabits a wide variety of wooded and forested landscapes in the tropical and subtropical zones. Most are somewhat open, like savanna and clearings with scattered trees, plantations, the edges of continuous forest, and gallery forest. In the Amazon Basin it is most often found in the canopy of várzea and the edges of lakes and rivers. It also occurs in mature secondary forest and well-shaded gardens.
In elevation the boat-billed flycatcher is generally found from sea level to in Mexico and Central America but locally reaches in northern Central America and in Costa Rica. In Colombia it reaches, in Ecuador, and in Peru. In Venezuela it is mostly found below but reaches about and in Brazil it occurs below.
Behavior
Movement
The boat-billed flycatcher is usually considered a year-round resident throughout its range. However, it appears that the population in far southern Brazil and Argentina may be migratory. The species also wanders widely and also appears in some areas to move from higher elevations to lower ones after the breeding season.Feeding
The boat-billed flycatcher feeds mostly on invertebrates, especially very large insects like cicadas. It also includes fruits of figs, berries, seeds, and small vertebrates in its diet. It primarily forages in pairs or small family groups and occasionally joins mixed-species feeding flocks. It mostly forages from the forest's mid-level to the canopy and often within dense canopy. It does frequently perch in the open atop or at the edge of a large tree. It takes insect prey mostly by snatching it from foliage after a short sally; it also will take it whilebriefly hovering. It seldom takes insects in mid-air. It takes fruits and seeds by gleaning while perched and with short sallies.