First described in 1851 by George Newbold Lawrence from a specimen collected in western Texas in the United States, the ash-throated flycatcher was initially given the scientific name Tyrannula cinerascens.

It breeds in desert scrub, riparian forest, brushy pastures and open woodland from the western United States to central Mexico.

This species is primarily an insectivore that flies from a perch to catch prey from the ground or from foliage in the undergrowth, less often from branches and trunks, hardly ever in midair.

The ash-throated flycatcher is separated from other confusingly similar Myiarchus species by its calls, a burry kabrick and a rough prrt or wheer heard year-round.

[9] Because of its extensive range, very large population, and generally increasing numbers, the ash-throated flycatcher has been listed as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

[12] Abnormal noise levels may also decrease the ash-throated flycatcher's listening area within its territory, affecting its ability to find prey or avoid predators.