Boat-billed Flycatcher (Megarynchus pitangua)
Boat-billed Flycatcher, Januária, Minas Gerais, Brazil, February 2002 - click for larger image Januária, Minas Gerais, Brazil
February 2002

The Boat-billed Flycatcher is found from Mexico through most of north and central South America as far south as northern Argentina but excluding the Andes above about 1500 ms.

It is usually seen in pairs in a variety of forested and wooded habitats.
Superficially it looks very similar to the Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) but its bill is much heavier with a broad base and a curved culmen. It is also more olive, less brown on the upperparts.

The main identification feature is, however, the voice which is a distinctive loud grating call and easily distinguished from the well-known call of the Great Kiskadee.

It eats mainly insects and seems to enjoy large spiders. Apparently it has been seen eating fish though it is less tied to water than the Great Kiskadee.

There are illustrations in Ridgely & Tudor, Volume 2, Plate 44; Hilty & Brown, Plate 39; and Ridgely & Greenfield, Plate 74.
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