Most species are rather plain, with various hues of brown, gray and white commonplace, often providing some degree of presumed
camouflage. Obvious exceptions include the bright red
vermilion flycatcher, blue, black, white and yellow
many-colored rush-tyrant and some species of tody-flycatchers or tyrants, which are often yellow, black, white and/or
rufous, from the
Todirostrum,
Hemitriccus and
Poecilotriccus genera. Several species have bright yellow underparts, from the
ornate flycatcher to the
great kiskadee. Some species have erectile
crests. Several of the large genera (i.e.
Elaenia,
Myiarchus or
Empidonax) are quite difficult to tell apart in the field due to similar plumage and some are best distinguished by their voices. Behaviorally, they can vary from species such as
spadebills which are tiny, shy and live in dense forest interiors to
kingbirds, which are relatively large, bold, inquisitive and often inhabit open areas near human habitations. As the name implies, a great majority of tyrant flycatchers are almost entirely
insectivorous (though not necessarily specialized in
flies). Tyrant flycatchers are largely opportunistic feeders and often catch any flying or arboreal insect they encounter. However, food can vary greatly and some (like the large
great kiskadee) will eat fruit or small vertebrates (e.g. small
frogs). In
North America, most species are associated with a "
sallying" feeding style, where they fly up to catch an insect directly from their perch and then immediately return to the same perch. Most tropical species, however, do not feed in this fashion and several types prefer to
glean insects from leaves and bark. Tropical species are sometimes found in
mixed-species foraging flocks, where various types of passerines and other smallish birds are found feeding in proximity. The smallest family members are the closely related
short-tailed pygmy tyrant and
black-capped pygmy tyrant from the genus
Myiornis (the first species usually being considered marginally smaller on average). These species reach a total length of and a weight of . By length, they are the smallest passerines on earth, although some species of
Old World warblers apparently rival them in their minuscule mean body masses if not in total length. The minuscule size and very short tail of the
Myiornis pygmy tyrants often lend them a resemblance to a tiny ball or insect. The largest tyrant flycatcher is the
great shrike-tyrant at and . A few species such as the
streamer-tailed tyrant,
scissor-tailed flycatcher and
fork-tailed flycatcher have a larger total length — up to in the fork-tailed flycatcher at least — but this is mainly due to their extremely long tails; the fork-tailed flycatcher has the longest tail feathers of any known bird relative to their size (this being in reference to true tail feathers, not to be confused with elongated tail streamers as seen in some from the
Phasianidae family of galliforms). ==Habitat and distribution==