Birds of North Carolina
their Distribution and Abundance
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
TYRANNIDAE Members:
General Comments
The Ash-throated Flycatcher is a Western species, breeding from southern Washington to Texas. Like most other flycatchers, it withdraws from the majority of this range in fall, to winter mainly in Mexico. However, strays do move eastward to the Gulf Coast in winter. Prior to 2005, it was considered Accidental or Casual in North Carolina, but it now occurs annually (though often just one or two records) near the coast, generally in late fall. As of 2022, there were about 65 state records, but in fall and winter 2023-24 and again in fall and winter 2024-25 there was an explosion of records in the eastern Coastal Plain and Piedmont, starting in mid-Nov and continuing through the winter. Birds typically occur along margins of forests, where there is a brushy ecotone; they spend the night in the forest, come to the edge in the morning for warming up and for foraging on insects, and then often disappear later on (back into the forest?). Other habitats in the state include thicket margins, and weedy fields with some shrubs.
Breeding Status
Nonbreeder
NC BRC List
The species' status on the List of Bird Species of North Carolina: either Definitive, Provisional, or Extinct, as administered by the NC Bird Records Committee. The Provisional List contains species for which there are less than three accepted sight (i.e., non-documented) records. Species of unaccepted origin are not included on the List of Bird Species of North Carolina.
Definitive
State Status
none
U.S. Status
Definitive
State Rank
SZ
Global Rank
G5
Coastal Plain
Greatly increasing in late fall and winter near the coast; late autumn migrant/visitor, with birds attempting to overwinter (though few birds have been completely successful). Rare and now annual along the northern and central coast and in Tidewater; very rare farther south. Several far inland records, mostly from Sampson -- 1 Jan 2020, 15 Jan - 8 Feb 2021, 20 Jan - 16 Feb 2021, and three on 11 Jan 2024. Other records far inland: Mount Olive (Wayne) on 14 Dec 2023; one in Pitt from 22 Jan - 4 Feb 2024; one in southern Moore on 14 Dec 2024; one near Wagram (Scotland) from 9 Feb - 14 Mar 2025; and one at Kinston (Lenoir) on 5 Jan 2026. Range of dates are 1 Nov into Mar, except for one bird photographed at Pea Island NWR on 24 Sep 1994 (Chat 61:266-68). One bird at Alligator River NWR from 6 Feb - 7 Mar 2022 likely overwintered there. The "repeated" visits at a few favored locales clealry suggest that a few birds are returning to winter where they did the previous winter. Peak counts: at least four (if not up to 6) believed to have wintered at Alligator River NWR during 2023-24, based on number of locations where birds were reported frequently; 3, Beartrack Farm (Sampson), 11 Jan 2024; 2 at Alligator River NWR, 30 Dec 2013; 2 at that refuge, 3 Feb 2020; 2, North River Preserve (Carteret), 29 Nov 2020.
Piedmont
Now a very rare visitor. Two sight reports are from the Raleigh area: one on 16 May 1973 (Chat 39:40-43), (Chat 54:56); and one on 16 Jan 2009 (Chat 73:67). A third sight record is from Winston-Salem on 26 Nov 2010 (Chat 75:48). The first Piedmont report with photographs came from the Randolph Middle School grounds in Mecklenburg on 18 Nov 2017 (Chat 82:42); and a second such report was at Charlotte on 31 Oct - 1 Nov 2019 (Chat 84:24). Another was in the Charlotte area on 26 Dec 2020 (Chat 85:69). In fall 2023, singles were photographed south of Raleigh (Wake) on 12 Nov*, at Chantilly Ecological Sanctuary (Mecklenburg) on 13 Nov*, and at Guilford County Farm in that county on 24-27 Nov*. A 2024 record was one photographed at a quarry pond near Pineville (Mecklenburg) on 23 Mar 2024. In fall 2024, individuals were reported from Anson, Guilford, and Mecklenburg, the Guilford bird being quite early (4 Oct).
Mountains
Accidental. One videotaped in Henderson on 28 Oct 1999 is the only record for the mountains.
Finding Tips
* to **
There have now been numerous recent records at Alligator River NWR, and somewhat fewer near Pungo Lake and along the NC 94 causeway over Lake Mattamuskeet. Thus, when birding such areas in Nov or Dec, keep an eye out for flycatchers. Of course, practically all will be Eastern Phoebes, but Western Kingbirds and Tropical Kingbirds are also possible in such areas. In winter 2023-24, birders had moderate success in re-finding birds at Alligator River NWR.