Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher Life History

Habitat

Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers occur near the edges of forests and woodlands; they generally avoid the interior of extensive forests. At the northern end of their breeding range, in southeastern Arizona, they inhabit canyons with sycamores, oaks, walnuts, cypresses, and pines. In neighboring Sonora, Mexico, they occur in tropical deciduous forest, canyon streams, pine-oak woodlands, and dry thorn scrub. In Costa Rica, they breed in dry forest, as well as on the edges of rainforest, in coffee plantations, and in clearings with some trees. Nonbreeding birds in Peru occur in rainforest along the edges of rivers, and on the edges of disturbed forests.

Food

Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers feed mainly on insects during the breeding season but add fruit, including mistletoe and mulberries, to their diet during the nonbreeding season. They typically remain high in trees, where they make short flights through the vegetation or launch themselves high in the air in pursuit of flying insects.

Nesting

Nest Placement

Female builds a cup nest inside of a cavity, anywhere from 3.4–27 meters (11–89 feet) above the ground. Most nests are in trees, with sycamores a favored tree type in Arizona. This species uses natural cavities and holes previously used by other cavity nesters, including woodpeckers, quetzals, and Elf Owls.

Nest Description

A shallow cup that may include pine needles, leaf stems, rootlets, fine twigs, and grasses.

Nesting Facts

Behavior

During the breeding season, Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers are noisy, with pairs frequently announcing their presence with distinctive “squeaky toy” calls. Otherwise, they are inconspicuous, sitting quietly in foliage high in trees for extended periods before flying out to catch insects. The female builds the nest alone while the male stays nearby. They sometimes take over active nest cavities from other species, including Dusky-capped Flycatcher and Northern Flicker, building their own nest over the top of the other bird’s nest. The female incubates the eggs, and both sexes feed the young, which typically leave the nest after 16–18 days. After the breeding season, Sulphur-bellied Flycatchers occur in small family groups, and feed in fruiting trees. On their South American nonbreeding grounds they are generally quiet.

Conservation

Partners in Flight estimates Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher’s global breeding population at 2,000,000 individuals and rates the species an 11 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a species of fairly low conservation concern.

Credits

Dunne, P. (2006). Pete Dunne's essential field guide companion. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, New York, USA.

Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb (1995). A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Lowther, P. E. and D. F. Stotz (2020). Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher (Myiodynastes luteiventris), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.subfly.01

Partners in Flight (2023). Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2023.

Ridgely, R. S., and G. Tudor (2009). Field Guide to the Songbirds of South America: The Passerines. University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, USA.

Schulenberg, T. S., D. F. Stotz, D. F. Lane, J. P. O’Neill, and T. A. Parker (2010). Birds of Peru. Revised and updated edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

Sibley, D. A. (2014). The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA.

Stiles, F. G., and A. F. Skutch (1989). A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, USA.

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