Empidonax oberholseri
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
The American dusky flycatcher (Empidonax oberholseri), or simply dusky flycatcher, is a small insectivorous passerine of the tyrant flycatcher family. The dusky flycatcher is one of many species in the genus Empidonax. These species are very similar in appearance and behavior, and they are notoriously difficult to differentiate. The best characteristics for distinguishing these species are voice, breeding habitat, and range.
Adults have olive-gray upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have a noticeable medium-width white eye ring, white wing bars and a medium length tail. The breast is washed with olive-gray. The bill is mainly dark. It is a bit smaller than the American grey flycatcher and a bit larger than the Hammond's flycatcher.
The male sings a three-part song. A common call is a dry whit, similar to that of other Empidonax flycatchers. A less common call, that is possibly only given by the male, is a sad dew-hic. The scientific name commemorates the American ornithologist Harry Church Oberholser.
These birds migrate to southern Arizona and Mexico. As non-breeding residents... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 12 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 14 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Flycatcher sighting in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on a given day, based on 423 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 34th most-seen of the 152 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and July
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Flycatcher in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on a given day, against under 5% in September to March, the lowest months. Those are among Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 190 mm in January.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dusky 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.
Among the best
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Dusky Flycatcher sightings, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks ranks 2nd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Yosemite National Park (United States, about 20%).
Same genus: Empidonax
The closest relatives of the Dusky Flycatcher that you can see in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (genus Empidonax, Empidonax Flycatchers) are Pacific-slope Flycatcher (about 20%) and Hammond's Flycatcher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dusky Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (423 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.
