Boat-billed Flycatcher

Overview

The boat-billed flycatcher (Megarynchus pitangua) is a large tyrant flycatcher found across Mexico, Central America, and mainland South America. It is the only member of its genus and is classified as Least Concern due to its extensive range and stable population of at least five million mature individuals.

Identification

• Measures 21.5 to 24 cm in length with bright yellow underparts, white cheeks, and olive to dull brownish upperparts.
• Distinguished by a characteristic long, wide, heavy, and arched blackish bill.
• Features a wide white supercilium wrapping around the nape, a black band from lores to ear coverts, and a blackish crown with a hidden yellow to orange-rufous patch.
• Dawn song includes a loud, slightly reedy, rolled whee-dic or chirree, repeated monotonously, alongside varied harsh and squealing calls.

Habitat

Found in a wide variety of wooded and forested landscapes in tropical and subtropical zones, favouring somewhat open environments such as savannas, clearings with scattered trees, plantations, and forest edges. In the Amazon Basin, it is most often found in the canopy of várzea and the edges of lakes and rivers, occurring generally from sea level up to 1,500 m, though reaching higher elevations in specific regions.

Diet

Feeds primarily on invertebrates, particularly very large insects like cicadas, which it snatches from foliage after short sallies or while briefly hovering. It also consumes fruits of figs, berries, seeds, and small vertebrates, usually foraging in pairs or small family groups from the mid-level to the canopy.

Did you know?

The bird was originally described as Lanius pitangua, mistakenly placing it in the shrike family, and its genus name Megarynchus is derived from Greek words meaning "much" and "bill" to emphasise its distinctive beak.