Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay (B), USA, Venezuela.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Variegated Flycatcher (Empidonomus varius) [XC108061]
by Gabriel Rosa from Cristalino Jungle Lodge, MT, Brazil (call)
Variegated Flycatcher (Empidonomus varius) [XC551037]
by Bernabe Lopez-Lanus from Forestal Belga (Cruce Caballero), San Pedro, Misiones, Argentina (song)
Subspecies
Despite significant differences in plumage, a close but equivocal relationship between present genus, Griseotyrannus and Tyrannus has been suggested on basis of their shared possession of conspicuous notching on inner webs of outer primaries (an unusual trait, found in only seven or eight distantly related genera in other tyrannid subfamilies). That these three form a monophyletic group was strongly supported in recent analyses of molecular-sequence data. Subspecies differ in migratory behaviour, possibly represent two separate species. Further study is required. Birds taken from northern Venezuela (Carabobo) and eastern Colombia described as subspecies septentrionalis.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
rufinus (von Spix, 1825) - Venezuela (eastern base of Andes in Portuguesa and Barinas, eastern Falcón and northern cordilleras east to Sucre and Delta Amacuro, also throughout Bolívar and Amazonas), the Guianas and northern and eastern Brazil (east to Pará and south-east to Bahia, southern along R Madeira to near border with Bolivia).
varius (Vieillot, 1818) - Breeds central and eastern Bolivia, central and southern Brazil (Mato Grosso east to Espírito Santo, south to Rio Grande do Sul), northern Argentina (southern at least to Tucumán, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos, possibly farther south), Paraguay and Uruguay; southern breeders migrate northern into range of nominate and north-western as far as western Colombia.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet