About Empidonax fulvifrons (Giraud, 1841)
The buff-breasted flycatcher, scientifically named Empidonax fulvifrons, is approximately 13 cm (5.1 in) long and weighs 6.9 to 9.3 g (0.24 to 0.33 oz). It is the smallest member of the genus Empidonax in the United States of America, and ranks among the smallest members of the genus overall. Males and females have identical appearance. The most well-studied subspecies is E. f. pygmaeus. Adult buff-breasted flycatchers have dull buffy white lores and a faint dull buffy white eye-ring, set against an otherwise buffy greenish brown face. Their crown, nape, and upperparts are a darker buffy greenish brown than their face. Their tail is grayish brown, with paler grayish white outer feather webs. Their wings are deep grayish brown, with pale grayish buff edges along the inner webs of the remiges. The wing coverts are deep grayish brown, with pale grayish, buffy gray, or dull whitish tips that form two distinct wing bars. Their chin and throat are light yellowish buff, their breast is tawny buff, and the remainder of their underparts are light yellowish buff or buff-yellow. The bird’s colors fade as feathers wear. All subspecies share a deep chestnut-brown iris, a black upper mandible, a yellow-orange lower mandible, and black legs and feet. Other subspecies differ from the nominate subspecies and from each other in the following ways: E. f. fulvifrons is larger, darker, and browner (less gray) than the nominate. E. f. rubicundus is larger and darker than the nominate, with a warm brown back. E. f. brodkorbi has a rich olive-brown back and a rich cinnamon breast. E. f. fusciceps is similar to brodkorbi, but darker overall. E. f. inexpectatus has a dark brown crown and a brown back.
This species has a disjunct distribution, with each subspecies occupying a separate range. E. f. pygmaeus occurs from southeastern Arizona south through Mexico to the line between northern Sinaloa and southern Nuevo León; it formerly ranged further north in Arizona and into southwestern New Mexico. E. f. fulvifrons is found in Tamaulipas, in northeastern Mexico. E. f. rubicundus occurs in Mexico from southern Chihuahua and Durango south to the line between Guerrero and western Veracruz. E. f. brodkorbi is known only from a single specimen collected in southern Oaxaca, Mexico. E. f. fusciceps ranges from Chiapas in southern Mexico into southern Guatemala. E. f. inexpectatus is found in southern and south-central Honduras. During the breeding season and across its year-round range, the buff-breasted flycatcher inhabits broad mountain canyons with open pine, pine-oak, or oak forest that has a grassy understory with scattered bushes. It is frequently found along watercourses. In the non-breeding season, some individuals move to lower elevation thorn-scrub habitat. The species overall occurs at elevations between 600 and 3,500 m (2,000 and 11,500 ft). In Arizona, it occurs between 1,950 and 2,850 m (6,400 and 9,400 ft). In Guatemala and Honduras, it occurs between 600 and 3,200 m (2,000 and 10,500 ft).
