Ptilogonys cinereus Swainson, 1827

Taxonomy and Size

The grey silky-flycatcher (Ptilogonys cinereus Swainson, 1827) measures 18.5 to 21 cm (7.3 to 8.3 in) in length. It is a slender bird with a prominent crest and a long tail.

Nominate Male Head Plumage

For adult males of the nominate subspecies P. c. cinereus, the head and crest are mostly blue-gray, with dusky lores, a white patch above the lores, a thin white eye-ring, and white or brownish-white chin and cheeks. Their upperparts are blue-gray, their flight feathers are black.

Nominate Male Tail Plumage

The central pair of their tail feathers is black; all other tail feathers have a black base, a white upper half, and a black lower half. Their throat and breast are gray, their belly is whitish, their flanks are golden-olive or yellow, and their undertail coverts are bright yellow.

Adult Female and Bare Parts

Adult females have a gray head and crest with a white eye-ring, grayish-brown upperparts, brown sides and flanks, and a white belly. Both sexes have a dark iris, a black bill, and black legs and feet.

Juvenile Plumage

Juveniles resemble adult females but have paler underparts.

P. c. molybdophanes Plumage

Males of subspecies P. c. molybdophanes have deeper bluish-gray upperparts than the nominate subspecies and olive-green flanks. Females of this subspecies are overall darker than nominate females, but share the nominate's bright yellow undertail coverts.

P. c. otofuscus Male Plumage

Males of P. c. otofuscus have upperpart coloring that falls between that of the nominate and P. c. molybdophanes. They have darker ear coverts, and the whitish area of their belly is more extensive than that of the nominate.

P. c. otofuscus Female Plumage

Females of this subspecies have a grayer back, lighter rump and uppertail coverts, and a darker breast than nominate females.

P. c. pallescens Male Plumage

Males of P. c. pallescens are paler and grayer than the nominate, with grayer ear coverts, and a grayish white (rather than brownish white) loral spot, chin, and throat.

P. c. pallescens Female Plumage

Females are paler and less brown than nominate females, with more contrast between the gray crown and throat and the back and breast.

Subspecies Distribution Introduction

The subspecies of the grey silky-flycatcher have the following distribution ranges. P. c. cinereus ranges from southern Coahuila, southern Nuevo León, and Jalisco south to southern and western Michoacán and Oaxaca in central and eastern Mexico.

Northwestern Mexico Subspecies Distribution

P. c. otofuscus occurs in southern Sonora, southwestern Chihuahua, eastern Sinaloa, western Durango, and western Zacatecas in northwestern Mexico. P. c. pallescens is found in eastern Michoacán and Guerrero in southwestern Mexico.

Southern Range and Vagrant Records

P. c. molybdophanes ranges from Chiapas in southern Mexico south into south-central Guatemala. The species has also been recorded as a vagrant in southern and western Texas.

Habitat Types

The grey silky-flycatcher inhabits pine, pine-oak, and juniper forest in the subtropical and temperate zones. It also occurs in pine savanna, and is rarely found in cloudforest.

General Elevational Range

Sources disagree on the species' overall elevational range: one source states it occurs between 1,100 and 3,200 m (3,600 to 10,500 ft), while another records it mostly between 1,000 and 3,500 m (3,300 to 11,500 ft), at lower elevations during winter.

Guatemala Elevational Range

In Guatemala, it is found between 1,200 and 3,050 m (3,900 to 10,000 ft), and occurs mostly above 1,700 m (5,600 ft).