General Description: Tufted Flycatchers (Mitrephanes phaeocercus) are small flycatchers with a prominent crest like a Pyrrhuloxia or Northern Cardinal. The wings are dark with two white wingbars, and rest of the bird is reddish brown. This bird flitted about energetically and erratically, rarely sitting still for long.

Taxonomy: Passeriformes, Tyrannidae, Fluvicolinae.

Favored Habitat: Mexican highland forests.

Where to Find: Don't look for Tufted Flycatchers around Las Vegas. Rather, look for them down in Mexico and South America. When birding in southern Arizona and the Big Bend region of Texas, keep an eye out for them.

Comments: This bird was photographed in Rio Grande Village, Big Bend National Park, Texas on December 4 and 5, 2010.

If you were a tasty flying insect, this might be the last face you ever see!