From sagebrush steppes to pinyon-juniper woodlands and ponderosa pine forests, this flycatcher forages for insects from shrubs or low tree branches.

The American gray flycatcher, however, can be identified by a unique behavior, its downward tail wag.

[2] Adults have pale gray upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with a faint olive tinge after molting in fall.

However, the American Ornithological Society (which covers North and Middle America) names it gray flycatcher.

The American gray flycatcher breeds from southernmost British Columbia through a narrow zone in central Washington to eastern Oregon and California.

The range extends east across Nevada, southern Idaho, Utah, and northern Arizona to southwestern Wyoming, western Colorado, and northwestern New Mexico.

[3] Depending on latitude, they arrive on breeding grounds mid-April to mid-May and leave between mid-August and mid-September.

Migration between breeding and wintering grounds takes approximately seven weeks in both spring and autumn.

[3] In winter the American gray flycatcher is found in "arid open and semiopen areas with scrub and scattered trees".

A bird will wait on an open perch – usually on a shrub or low tree branch – and fly out to catch a passing insect.

The female builds the nest (males rarely help) from various plant materials, especially grass stalks and strips of bark.

The nest is usually lined with softer materials, such as wool, hair, feathers, or soft grasses.