Lesser Antillean Flycatcher Myiarchus oberi Scientific name definitions

The sister species of the Puerto Rican Flycatcher (Myiarchus antillarum), the Lesser Antillean Flycatcher is the only regularly occurring Myiarchus flycatcher in the southern West Indian region. Four subspecies are generally recognized, and these show a clinal increase in size as one moves from north to south through the islands. This is a comparatively large flycatcher with rufous in the wings and tail, but the plumage is typical of the entire genus, being largely brown above with pale wing fringes, a brown cap, grayish throat and breast, and pale yellow posterior underparts. The Lesser Antillean Flycatcher is usually found at the edges of dense woodland or in more open forests, feeding on insects and small fruits.

19–22 cm; 21·3–37 g (1 Prŷs-Jones, R. P. (1982). Molt and weight of some land-birds on Dominica, West Indies. Journal of Field Ornithology 53(4):352–362. Close ). Nominate race has crown and upperparts dark olive-green, uppertail-coverts with rufous edges; lores (especially), ear-coverts and face slightly greyer; wings brown, prominent rufous outer edges of primaries and inner edges of tertials, outer edges of secondaries and tertials slightly paler rufous, greater and median wing-coverts diffusely tipped greyish-white or rufous (faint wing-bars); outer webs of inner vanes of rectrices all with broad rufous stripe; throat and breast grey, tending to be paler on throat, rest of underparts yellow, washed greenish on flanks, and not sharply demarcated from grey of breast; tibial feathering olive-brown; underwing-coverts yellow; iris dark, bill dark, inside of mouth pale yellow, legs dark. Sexes similar. Race sclateri is most distinctive, smaller than others, lacks rufous in tail, wingbars perhaps least pronounced; sanctaeluciae is larger than nominate; berlepschii is smaller than previous, perhaps with paler yellow belly than nominate (and belly tends to be slightly richer yellow on Barbuda than on St Kitts and Nevis).

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Breeds Mar–Jul, e.g. nest with eggs in May on Dominica (2 Bond, J. (1941). Nidification of the birds of Dominica, B.W.I. Auk. 58(3): 364–375. Close ). Loosely constructed nest of plant fibres, feathers and plant down, built in tree cavity; suggestion of building cup-like nest in tree fork (instead of cavity) not wholly reliable. Clutch 3–4 eggs, cream-buff with heavy purplish-brown and violet-grey markings, size 23·5–24·3 mm × 18·6–18·9 mm (nominate) (2 Bond, J. (1941). Nidification of the birds of Dominica, B.W.I. Auk. 58(3): 364–375. Close ). No other information.