Vermillion Flycatcher

Vermillion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus)

One of our most striking birds on the Punta Banda peninsula is the Vermillion Flycatcher. The males are fire-headed beauties, brilliantly red with dark brown wings and tail.  Females are more subtly colored, with gray-brown plumage and a warm salmon-red blush on the underparts.

The northern range of this species barely reaches the United States, in the far southwestern corner. Its range extends southward throughout central America and as far south as Argentina.

Vermillion flycatchers generally inhabit open areas such as deserts, grasslands, and shrublands. Agile like other flycatchers, they can often be seen darting from conspicuous perches on shrub tops and fences to swiftly snatch insects on the wing and return to their perches.  

The vermillion flycatcher is one of many birds included on the “Birds of the Todos Santos Bay and the Punta Banda Estuary.” It’s an easily identifiable bird for the most novice of birdwatchers and its vivid hue adds a blaze of color to the local landscape