Birds
Ash-Throated Flycatcher
Myiarchus cinerascens · also called ash-throated flycatchers
Inside an old woodpecker hole carved into a saguaro cactus, an ash-throated flycatcher settles onto a nest lined partly with a shed snake skin, a strange but oddly common furnishing choice for a bird that never built the cavity itself in the first place.
Overview
The ash-throated flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens, is a cavity-nesting songbird native to desert, grassland, and dry woodland habitat across the western United States and Mexico. Its reliance on existing tree and cactus cavities, along with its curious habit of lining nests with shed snake skin, make it one of the more resourceful and behaviourally distinctive flycatchers in arid North America.
A bird that borrows its home entirely
Rather than investing energy building a nest from the ground up, the ash-throated flycatcher simply moves into whatever suitable cavity it can find already made, freeing it to focus its resources on raising young in some of the driest habitat any flycatcher occupies.
Status
Least Concern — widespread and stable across suitable arid habitat throughout the western United States and Mexico.
Ash-Throated Flycatcher: common questions
Why does the ash-throated flycatcher put snake skin in its nest?
An ash-throated flycatcher will sometimes incorporate a piece of shed snake skin into its nest lining, a behaviour shared with several related flycatcher species, though the exact reason remains debated, with possible explanations including deterring nest predators that might be wary of an apparent snake presence.
Does the ash-throated flycatcher build its own nest?
Not from scratch — an ash-throated flycatcher nests inside existing cavities such as abandoned woodpecker holes, natural tree hollows, or cactus cavities, lining the interior with soft material rather than constructing an open, exposed nest structure the way many other songbirds do.
How can you identify an ash-throated flycatcher?
An ash-throated flycatcher displays a pale grey throat and breast contrasting with a soft lemon-yellow belly, along with a rufous tinge on the tail and wings, and it also produces a distinctive rolling or burry call useful for identification even when the bird is hidden among vegetation.
Where does the ash-throated flycatcher live?
The ash-throated flycatcher is native to desert, grassland, and dry woodland habitat across the western United States and Mexico, well adapted to arid conditions and able to nest successfully even in areas with limited tree cover, including saguaro cacti.