FLYCATCHER • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Flycatcher

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noun

Flycatcher n. (Zool.) One of numerous species of birds that feed upon insects, which they take on the wing. Note: The true flycatchers of the Old World are Oscines, and belong to the family Muscicapidae, as the spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa grisola). The American flycatchers, or tyrant flycatchers, are Clamatores, and belong to the family Tyrannidae, as the kingbird, pewee, crested flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus), and the vermilion flycatcher or churinche (Pyrocephalus rubineus). Certain American flycatching warblers of the family Sylvicolidae are also called flycatchers, as the Canadian flycatcher (Sylvania Canadensis), and the hooded flycatcher (S. mitrata). See Tyrant flycatcher.

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Etymology of 'Flycatcher'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Flycatcher" Quotes from Famous Books

... a remarkably curious hunting-party. A number of the common black and white stork were hunting for grasshoppers and other insects, but mounted upon the back of each stork was a large copper-coloured flycatcher, which, perched like a rider on his horse, kept a bright look-out for insects, which from its elevated position it could easily discover upon the ground. I watched them for some time: whenever the storks perceived a grasshopper or other winged insect, they chased it on foot, ...

— The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia • Samuel W. Baker

... The first part that I chanced upon was curious and amusing. A female, probably the "beloved object," stood demurely on one of the dead top branches of a large tree down in the garden, while her admirer performed fantastic evolutions in the air about her. No flycatcher ever made half the eccentric movements this aerial acrobat indulged in. He flew straight up very high, executing various extraordinary turns and gyrations, so rapidly they could not be followed and described, ...

— In Nesting Time • Olive Thorne Miller

... Families.—Sometimes there is wide variety in the character of the nests of different species classified as belonging to the same family. The Flycatcher group is a good example of this fact. Here we have as one member of the family the Kingbird, that makes a heavy bulky nest often on one of the upper, outermost limbs of an apple tree. The Wood Pewee's nest is a frail, shallow ...

— The Bird Study Book • Thomas Gilbert Pearson

Words linked to "Flycatcher" : tyrant flycatcher, thickhead, Tyrannus tyrannus, firebird, Muscicapidae, Contopus virens, Sayornis phoebe, New World flycatcher, oscine, spotted flycatcher, Muscivora-forficata, phoebe bird, family Muscicapidae, kingbird, Old World flycatcher, Muscicapa grisola, peewit, whistler, Tyrannidae, pewee, Pyrocephalus rubinus mexicanus, scissortailed flycatcher