Common Vermilion Flycatcher - Pyrocephalus rubinus

Common Vermilion Flycatcher Pyrocephalus rubinus

Brazilian name: príncipe

Chilean name: saca-tu-real

Male Vermilion Flycatcher, Emas, Goiás, Brazil, April 2001 - click for larger image

Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile

The male Common Vermilion Flycatcher is a stunning bird with its head and underparts a brilliant scarlet apart from a thick dark line through the eye.

Male Vermilion Flycatcher, Roraima, Brazil, July 2001 - click for larger image

The first photo is either of a young male coming into breeding plumage for the first time or an eclipse male which has lost some of its scarlet colouring during the non-breeding season.

The female, seen in photo 6, has very different colouring being dusky brown with a streaked greyish breast and normally some pink on the belly.

They are found in open areas with some trees or bushes and can be found in parks and gardens. They range from south west USA to central Argentina but are not found in Amazonia or eastern Brazil except when on migration during the southern winter. See the distribution map at Birdlife International.

Male Vermilion Flycatcher, Barra de Quaraí, Brazil, August 2004 - click for larger image

Photos 5 and 6 were taken in northern Chile and are of the sub-species P. r. cocachacrae where the male has a slightly less dark back and less bright red underparts.

Photos 7 to 9 were taken in the Cauca Valley, Colombia and show the sub-species P. r. piurae where the male has a darker back and more vibrant red.

Male Vermilion Flycatcher, Azapa Valley, Chile, February 2007 - click for larger image

Female Vermilion Flycatcher, Azapa Valley, Chile, February 2007 - click for larger image

Female Vermilion Flycatcher, Los Cerritos, Risaralda, Colombia, April 2012 - click for larger image

Male Vermilion Flycatcher, Los Cerritos, Risaralda, Colombia, April 2012 - click for larger image

Vermilion Flycatcher, Bosque de Pomac, Lambayeque, Peru, October 2018 - click for larger image

Vermilion Flycatcher, Lagoa do Peixe, Rio Grande do Sul, October 2022 - click for larger image

Vermilion Flycatcher, Ubatuba, Sao Paulo, October 2022 - click for larger image

Back to Index

If you do not see a menu on the left, you may have arrived at this page from another site. Please click Home to get to my main page.