The Great Crested Flycatcher breeds in eastern and central Canada and the USA and winters in the south of Florida and from southern Mexico through Central America to northern Colombia and northern Venezuela. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. It is found in a wide variety of wooded habitats and, while avoiding forest in the breeding season, it can be found in humid forest in its wintering grounds.

It is distinguished from Brown-crested Flycatcher M. tyrannulus by its heavier bill, the sharp contrast between its grey chest and its yellow belly and the minimal contrast between its crown and its face.

The normal call is a rising "wheee-eep"