One Vermilion Flycatcher

The "fire-headed" mascot of Tucson Bird Alliance

Vermilion Flycatchers are a bird species that are wonderful to see no matter when you see them. And no matter how often you see them, you just cannot get tired of seeing them. The day that I was at Reid Park and photographing the western bluebirds, there was one male Vermilion Flycatcher that seemed to be circling me. In fact, it was obviously me who was active in its hunting territory. The photos in this post are just a number of portrait shots of him in the oak trees.

He’s on the same twig in the same tree as the prior photo. I just like the way he turned his head to give us a good look at the side of his face.

The Vermilion Flycatcher moved from the crowded oak tree to the end of a branch out in the open. He remained on this one branch for the next series of photos.

In this close-up of the Flycatcher on the same branch with the same location, he’s looking straight at me

The Vermilion is still in the same spot with his head turned to the side but tilted down a little bit. I’m showing all these pictures because I just couldn’t decide if any were better than the others so I’m “forcing” you to see all of the ones that I thought were kind of nice.

Here the Vermilion is on the same branch in the same tree, but I did a little bit of a trick to change the background of the prior image. By stepping two feet to the right, the Vermilion was now directly in front of a distant palm tree. Instead of a gray blue sky behind it, there’s a nice brown, blurry stripe of a distant palm tree.

Vermilion Flycatchers are emblematic of Southern Arizona and are readily found in just about all local urban parks. Their brilliant plumage is appealing both to birders but also to non-birders alike. There is a reason that the Tucson Bird Alliance chose this “fire-headed” bird as its mascot. The rationale is explained in this piece on this very special bird.