The sepia-capped flycatcher is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae, the tyrant flycatchers. It is found in Mexico, every Central American country except El Salvador, and every mainland South American country except Chile; it is known in Uruguay as a vagrant.
Region
Mesoamerica and northern to central South America
Typical Environment
Occupies humid and semi-humid forests, especially the shaded understory of primary and mature secondary growth. Favors forest edges, streamside thickets, and vine-tangled gullies where it can sally out from low to mid-level perches. Also occurs in selectively logged and regenerating forests provided substantial understory cover remains. It is generally absent from open habitats and very dry forests.
Altitude Range
0–1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A small understory tyrant flycatcher, the sepia-capped flycatcher is best recognized by its warm brown cap contrasting with olive upperparts and buffy wingbars. It often joins mixed-species flocks and makes short, darting sallies for insects from low perches. Its nest is a small, mossy, purse-like structure suspended from vegetation. Despite its wide range from Mexico through much of South America, it can be quite skulking and is more often heard than seen.
Temperament
skulking and cautious
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with brief hovering sallies
Social Behavior
Typically seen singly or in pairs, often accompanying mixed-species flocks in the understory. Forages by sallying and gleaning from leaves and twigs at low to mid levels. Breeding pairs construct a small, mossy, pendant nest suspended from rootlets or vines, and they defend a modest territory during the breeding season.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Delivers soft, high-pitched whistles and thin tseet or tsee-tsip notes, often repeated in short series. Vocalizations are modest in volume and can be easily masked by louder forest species.
