Many of my friends and family members are afflicted with a fear of snakes. They’re in good company. Statistics indicate that about a third of the population has this particular phobia. Scientifically, this phobia is known as ophidiophobia.

Before anyone reads further, this is not a column about snakes. There’s only one solid connection between snakes and this week’s featured bird. More on that shortly.

I’ve been writing about flycatchers for the past couple of columns, including the Eastern kingbird and scissor-tailed flycatcher. This week, I am introducing readers to another member of the family.

The great crested flycatcher has an impressive name. Like many species of birds, this one has been given a puzzling common name considering the bird’s appearance doesn’t really justify such a grandiose name.

The great crested flycatcher does indeed sport a raggedy crest. For a flycatcher, it is almost a showy bird with its brown and dull yellow plumage. There’s not much to explain the adjective “great” in this bird’s name. It’s only about eight inches long. Helped by the shaggy crest, this flycatcher looks like it has a head slightly too large for its body.

The great crested flycatcher is unique among the region’s flycatchers in nesting inside natural cavities, in the same fashion as such popular cavity-nesting birds as Eastern bluebird and tree swallow. The great crested flycatcher will also nest inside bird boxes, although the entrance hole needs to be slightly larger than the ones required for bluebirds and other small songbirds.

It’s this flycatcher’s nesting habits that provide the tenuous connection to snakes. Great crested flycatchers almost invariably weave a shed snakeskin into the nest during the construction process.

This flycatcher has become quite famous for its incorporation of a snakeskin into the construction of its nest. This prevalent tendency on the part of great crested flycatcher isn’t practiced as a whim. Studies suggest that the snake skin serves as a deterrent to ward off potential predators that might seek to eat the flycatcher’s eggs. With the advent of the era of mass production, the great crested flycatcher occasionally substitutes cellophane or other varieties of clear plastic in place of the traditional snake skin. The speculation is that the bird mistakes the cellophane for the remnant left behind when a snake sheds its old skin.

During spring visits to coastal South Carolina, I’ve observed these flycatchers attempting to nest inside wooden paper delivery boxes. I’m not sure what the newspaper subscribers thought of these clever attempts to take up residence in the boxes.

You’ll probably hear a great crested flycatcher before you see it. Even when hidden in the forest canopy, the great crested flycatcher betrays its presence with its loud “Wheep!” call. They’re not skittish birds, however, and some patience will often result in a visual observation of the bird.

Like with most other flycatchers, insects are the focus of the dietary preference of this bird. However, the great crested flycatcher will also eat some seasonally available fruit, including various berries. The bird’s favored way to forage for insects is to perch on a branch until an insect wanders into range. Once it spots an insect, the flycatcher swoops down to capture its prey.

The great crested flycatcher belongs to the Myiarchus genus of flycatchers, which consists of about two dozen species ranging throughout Central, South and North America. In the United States, the other two members of the genus are the ash-throated flycatcher, which resides in the western United States, and the brown-crested flycatcher, a resident of southern California, southern Nevada, central Arizona and southern Texas. Both of these species also range into Mexico and Central America.

The island of Jamaica is home to another member of the genus with a claim to a rather unusual name. The sad flycatcher, better known in Jamaica as “little Tom Fool,” is considered a common resident of Jamaican forests.

The tyrant flycatchers (Tyrannidae) are a family of passerine birds which occur throughout North and South America. They are considered the largest family of birds, with more than 400 species. They are the most diverse avian family in every country in the Americas, except for the United States and Canada, where they are present but without the diversity seen south of the U.S. border.

Other descriptively named tyrant flycatchers include rufous flycatcher, stolid flycatcher, black-capped flycatcher, yellow-bellied flycatcher, fork-tailed flycatcher, golden-winged tody-flycatcher, flammulated flycatcher, boat-billed flycatcher, ornate flycatcher, cinnamon flycatcher and vermilion flycatcher. The latter is a bit of a standout among flycatchers in having brilliant red plumage.

Listen for that loud “wheep” call, often coming from the upper levels of the woodland canopy. The hidden singer often produces the call repeatedly. Once the summer nesting season ends, these birds are typically silent. On occasion, however, an individual bird will not remain mute, and I have heard the loud “wheep” call even in September and October during fall migration.

Although the great crested flycatcher is found in the region, I have observed this bird with more frequency farther south in states like Georgia and South Carolina. You just have to use a little more effort to observe this interesting bird closer to home.

I have had the chance to observe nesting great crested flycatchers at the homes of friends and family members. More than 20 years ago, a family of great crested flycatchers took up residence in a box mounted to the garage at the home of my uncle, Ray Sneyd, in Limestone Cove.

Back in the late 1990s, I also made the acquaintance of Brookie and Jean Potter, who reside at Wilbur Lake in Carter County, when they sought out help identifying a great crested flycatcher nesting in a bird box at their home. The experience also set the Potters on their own path into birding. We have had many fun birding adventures in the subsequent years.

To share a sighting, ask a question or make a comment, email me at ahoodedwarbler@aol.com.