Bird Gallery Index

Great Crested Flycatcher image © Helen Baines

Family:  (Tyrannidae) Tyrant Flycatchers

Preferred Habitat: Woodlands and orchards.

Seasonal Occurrence: Most common April through October. Occasional other times of the year. Breeds in our area.

Notes: Great Crested Flycatchers are more often heard than seen as they like to perch high up in the canopy of tall trees. Fortunately, their call is a very distinctive, a loud, ascending whee-eep. Males are slightly larger than females, but their plumage is alike. Males can be very combative in attacking rivals. Great Cresteds are the only eastern flycatcher to use tree cavities for their nests. They also take advantage of nestboxes. They like to decorate their nests with shed snakeskin, or strips of plastic, even bits of aluminum foil. Good places to look for Great Cresteds include Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary and High Island.

About the Photograph: This image was taken at San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge, on the edge of Bobcat Woods, on March 20, 2005.

The Houston Bird Survey has more information and a distribution map for the Great Crested Flycatcher.
- Susan Billetdeaux