Myiarchus ferox
Silhouette: Ferran Sayol · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The short-crested flycatcher (Myiarchus ferox) is a species of bird in the tyrant flycatcher family Tyrannidae. It is found in every mainland South American country except Chile. The short-crested flycatcher was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the Old World flycatchers in the genus Muscicapa and coined the binomial name Muscicapa ferox. The specific epithet ferox is from Latin and means "brave", "wild" or "fierce". Gmelin based his description primarily on "Le tyran de Cayenne" that had been described in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. Brisson had examined both male and female specimens that had been sent to France from Cayenne.
The short-crested flycatcher is one of 22 flycatchers in the genus Myiarchus that was introduced in 1844 by Jean Cabanis. Within Myiarchus, the short-crested flycatcher is genetically closely related to the Panama flycatcher (Myiarchus panamensis).
As of early 2025 the short-crested flycatcher is assigned these three subspecies:
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Emas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Sierra de la Macarena National Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 6 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 9 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 10 | Madidi National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 11 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 12 | Chapada dos Guimarães National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 13 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 14 | Amacayacu National Natural Park | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 15 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 16 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 17 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 18 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 19 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 20 | Podocarpus National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Campo Grande | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Manaus | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Campinas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Niterói | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Short-crested Flycatcher sighting in Madidi National Park on a given day, based on 22 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 96th most-seen of the 239 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Short-crested Flycatcher in Madidi National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January–February, April, June and August–October, the lowest months. That is one of Madidi National Park's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain against 290 mm in February. March and December have too few records to rate.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Short-crested Flycatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
10th of 20
Of the 20 parks where we can rate Short-crested Flycatcher sightings, Madidi National Park ranks 10th at about 10%. The best odds are in Serra da Canastra National Park (Brazil, about 30%), Itatiaia National Park (Brazil, about 30%) and Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Short-crested Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Madidi National Park (22 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
