Rufous-tailed Flycatcher

© Steve Metz

© Rick Bowers

Birdfinding.info ⇒  Can be found at most well-wooded sites on Jamaica, including Rocklands Bird Sanctuary, Windsor, Stewart Town, Marshall’s Pen, Hardwar Gap, San San, and Ecclesdown Road.

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher

Myiarchus validus

Family: Tyrannidae

Endemic to Jamaica, where it is fairly common in humid montane and foothill forests and woodlands the length of the island.  Also occurs sporadically in dry lowlands.

Identification

A large Myiarchus with bright rufous highlights throughout its wings and tail.  Its belly is yellow, and its long, hook-tipped bill is noticeably pale at the base.

Much larger and more colorful than Jamaica’s two other resident Myiarchus species, Sad and Stolid Flycatchers.

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher.  (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; January 28, 2019.)  © Matthew Grube

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher.  (Stewart Town, Jamaica; February 2, 2019.)  © Matthew Grube

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher.  (San San, Jamaica; February 2014.)  © Tom Davis

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher.  (Hardwar Gap, Jamaica; January 28, 2019.)  © Michael Woodruff

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher.  (Barbecue Bottom, Jamaica; July 6, 2008.)  © Steve Metz

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher.  (Stonehenge, Jamaica; June 1, 2010.)  © Rhys Marsh

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher.  (Ecclesdown Road, Jamaica; February 24, 2018.)  © Dubi Shapiro

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher.  (Stewart Town, Jamaica; February 18, 2018.)  © Tim Avery

Rufous-tailed Flycatcher.  (Stewart Town, Jamaica; February 13, 2016.)  © Charles J. Sharp

Voice.  Common calls include a squeaky three-syllable phrase accented on the last syllable, a rattling chuckle, and high-pitched series of whistles that resembles a car alarm:

Notes

Monotypic species.

References

eBird. 2019. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed February 10, 2019.)

Haynes-Sutton, A., A. Downer, R. Sutton, and Y.-J. Rey-Millet. 2009. A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Jamaica. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.

Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the West Indies. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.