Great Crested Flycatcher
I'm sure I needed iNaturalist help to identify this Great Crested Flycatcher ; I think this is my first picture of one, and I don't routinely see them either. They do spend a lot of time at the top of tree canopies, where it's hard for us ground-dwellers to spot them. For that matter, that's their ecological niche - patrolling treetops above most of the similar birds. Fortunately the birds that look most like the Great Crested Flycatcher are the Brown-crested Flycatcher and the Ash-throated Flycatcher , neither of which lives around here. Though these guys are flycatchers , they're not against eating fruit. They build their nests in cavities, so you'll sometimes see them use a birdhouse. It's probably a good thing you don't see their nests since they'd probably give off a bit of a dump vibe; they'll use shed snakeskins, cellophane, and crinkly plastic to put together their nests. Flycatchers are a reminder why we should refer to this order of bi...