Mouse-gray flycatcher

The mouse-gray flycatcher or mouse-grey flycatcher (Myiophobus crypterythrus) is a species of bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is found in southwest Colombia, western Ecuador, and northwestern Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

Taxonomy
The Mouse-gray flycatcher was originally described by English ornithologist Philip Sclater in 1861 from a specimen sent to him from Pallatanga, Ecuador. Sclater originally placed it in the genus Myiobius, but it was later placed in Myiophobus. Its specific epithet crypterythrus comes from the Greek crypto meaning hidden, and erythrus meaning reddish, a reference to its subtle reddish wing bars that aren't obviously apparent at first glance. Sclater noted its similarity to the Bran-colored flycatcher (then under the name Myiobius naevius) but identified its difference in size and morphology. It was later considered to be a subspecies of the Bran-colored flycatcher by Carl Eduard Hellmayr under the name Myiophobus fasciatus crypterythrus. Some publications used the name Western Banded Flycatcher for the subspecies during the 20th century. Although its distinct appearance was apparent, some believed that it didn't even warrant a subspecies, with Zimmer considering it conspecific with M. f. rufescens due to a confusing female specimen from where the ranges overlap. In 2023 a proposal to the South American Classification Committee by J.I. Areta and T.S. Schulenberg to split the subspecies M. f. crypterythrus and M. f. rusfescens from the Bran-colored flycatcher was approved unanimously, leading to the split of the Mouse-gray and Rufescent flycatchers as new species.

Description
The Mouse-gray flycatcher is a small brownish-grey bird weighing 9.9g. It has a brown back, neck, and crown with a pale belly, throat, and supercilium and greyish-brown breast streaks and cheek. It's wings and tail are a darker brown with the coverts, the sides of the secondaries and tertials, and the tips of the primaries being a rufous color that varies from being a subtle tinge to a very bold ochre. It can be told from the Bran-colored by its darker sepia brown back and paler and more obvious supercilium. The related Rufescent flycatcher is easily differentiated by its rufous unstreaked belly and breast.

Distribution
It has a rather restricted range compared to its relatives, being found from extreme southwestern Colombia, Ecuador west of the Andes into Peru reaching its southern terminus in La Libertad Department.