Habitat
Subtropical and tropical moist lowland and montane forest, subtropical and tropical dry shrubland and forest, dry savanna. From sea-level - 3,050 m.
Scarlet Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) [XC6268]
by Bernabe Lopez-Lanus from Est\u00e2ncia Santa Maria - Jaguar\u00e3o, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (call)
Scarlet Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus) [XC558370]
by Nestor Fari\u00f1a from Vereda La Selva, Popay\u00e1n, Cauca, Colombia (song)
Subspecies
Racial boundaries poorly delineated in some cases. Further research needed to clarify limits. Galapagos subspecies (nanus, dubius) sometimes treated as one or two separate species. Birds from south-eastern Peru (Huiro and Chaquimayo) described as subspecies major, but validity has repeatedly been questioned. The breeding grounds of this purported subspecies unknown.
The following 13 subspecies are recognised:
flammeus (Boddaert, 1783) - Breeds south-western USA (south-eastern California eastern locally to Oklahoma and Texas) south to north-western Mexico; northern populations winter in south of breeding range and south to Central America. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus).
mexicanus P. L. Sclater, 1859 - Southern USA (southern Texas) southern locally to central and southern Mexico. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus).
blatteus Bangs, 1911 - South-eastern Mexico, Belize and northern Guatemala. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus).
pinicola T. R. Howell, 1965 - Eastern Honduras (Mosquitia) and north-eastern Nicaragua. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus).
nanus Gould, 1839 - Galapagos Archipelago (except San Cristóbal). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Little Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus nanus).
dubius Gould, 1839 - San Cristóbal I (Chatham), in Galapagos. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Least Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus dubius).
saturatus Berlepsch and Hartert, 1902 - North-eastern Colombia, western and northern Venezuela, Guyana and northern Brazil. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus).
piurae J. T. Zimmer, 1941 - Western Colombia south to north-western Peru. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus).
ardens J. T. Zimmer, 1941 - Northern Peru (extreme eastern Piura, Cajamarca, Amazonas). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus).
obscurus Gould, 1839 - Western Peru (Lima region). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus).
cocachacrae J. T. Zimmer, 1941 - South-western Peru south to extreme northern Chile. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus).
rubinus (Boddaert, 1783) - Breeds south-eastern Bolivia, Paraguay and south-eastern Brazil south to Argentina (south to Río Negro) and Uruguay. Winters mostly east of Andes north to eastern Ecuador and south-eastern Colombia and east through Amazonia and southern Brazil.
major Pelzeln, 1868 - South-eastern Peru (Cuzco and Puno).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet