Great Crested Flycatcher

Look for

A big, loud flycatcher of the forest canopy. Olive-brown above, gray throat and breast, lemon-yellow belly, and rusty-red tail and wing feathers (flash rufous in flight). Has a slight crest and a heavy dark bill. Much bigger and more colorful than Eastern Phoebe.

Size: ~8.5" — nearly robin-sized. The largest common eastern Myiarchus.

Listen for

• Song/call: a loud, sharp "WHEEP!" — rising, emphatic, and carries through forest canopy. Also gives a rolling "prrrrrt" burr.
• Dawn song: a series of alternating "wheeps" and "brrrt" notes.

The WHEEP call is the ID. Once you learn this one loud note, you'll hear Great Crested Flycatchers everywhere in summer forest. They call constantly.

Where in Memphis / region

Common breeder — found in any mature deciduous forest:

• Canopy of hardwood forest
• Forest edges near openings
• Suburban areas with large shade trees
• Parks with old-growth or mature second-growth

Widespread across all Memphis parks:

• Overton Park (reliable — old-growth canopy)
• Shelby Farms forest edges
• Wolf River Greenway
• Meeman-Shelby
• Radnor Lake (Nashville — common)
• All Middle TN state parks with forest

Behavior

• Canopy specialist — stays in treetops, rarely descends.
• Sallying — sits on high perch, flies out to snatch insects, returns.
• Cavity nester — the only eastern flycatcher that nests in tree cavities (and nest boxes).
• Snakeskin collector — famously incorporates shed snakeskins into its nest. Will also use plastic wrap, onion skins, or cellophane if snakeskins aren't available.
• Aggressive — defends nest cavity fiercely against squirrels, woodpeckers, and other hole-nesters.

Story

The snakeskin mystery

Great Crested Flycatchers are famous for weaving shed snakeskins into their nests. This behavior has fascinated naturalists for 200+ years. The leading hypothesis: the snakeskins deter predators (squirrels and climbing snakes) from entering the cavity — the skin makes the cavity look occupied by a snake.

In modern suburban areas where snakeskins are scarce, GCFs substitute plastic bags, cellophane, onion skins, and other crinkly transparent materials — suggesting the visual appearance (translucent, scaly) matters more than the smell.

The only cavity-nesting flycatcher

Among the 30+ flycatcher species in eastern North America, the Great Crested Flycatcher is the only one that nests in tree cavities. All others build open cups, platforms, or (like phoebes) mud shelves. This cavity-nesting habit puts them in competition with woodpeckers, nuthatches, bluebirds, and House Sparrows for limited nest sites.

They readily accept nest boxes — the same size as bluebird boxes but placed higher (12-20 feet) in or near forest.

Wheep and you'll know

The "WHEEP!" call is one of the most distinctive sounds of eastern summer forest. It's loud, emphatic, and impossible to confuse with anything else once learned. In May and June, a single walk through Overton Park or Radnor Lake will produce multiple GCFs calling from the canopy — far more often heard than seen.

Fun facts

• Oldest known wild Great Crested Flycatcher: 14+ years.
• They eat small lizards occasionally, in addition to insects and berries.
• Arrive late (mid-April) and leave early (August) — shorter breeding season than many songbirds.
• The genus name Myiarchus means "fly ruler" in Greek.
• They winter in southern Mexico through Colombia — long-distance Neotropical migrants.
• Audubon described the snakeskin nest behavior in the 1830s, making it one of the earliest-documented bird behaviors in North America.

Field notes (to add)

• Overton Park canopy calling spots
• Audio: the diagnostic WHEEP call
• Photo: rusty tail flash in flight