Behavior

As with other endemic species in the Galapagos Islands, the Galapagos Flycatcher is usually quite tame and friendly, showing little fear of humans and often is quite curious. Because they have little fear of humans, they will occasionally enter buildings and houses to capture and eat insects, often moths or other night-flying insects that have been attracted to light at night and in the morning remain on the wall.
The flycatcher usually moves slowly through the vegetation flying from nearby perch to nearby perch, scanning for insects, in the manner of other Myiarchus. It dust-bathes on hot, sunny afternoons, in the manner of other members of its genus.

The Galapagos Flycatcher is non-migratory and likely very sedentary.

Harris (1992) says it is territorial, and Ervin (1994) mentions aggression between pairs when nest sites were less than about 80 m apart. This is likely in a manner similar to that of other Myiarchus.

No information.

Although many endemic Galapagos birds are relatively unafraid of humans, Galapagos Flycatcher is among the most friendly and curious. It frequently will perch quietly for long periods within 2 m of an observer, while continuing to peer about seeking prey. During the breeding season they have been known to actively pull hair from introduced goats and cattle, and to attempt to do the same from humans (personal observation; Lanyon 1978, Ervin 1994).

Galapagos Flycatchers are usually seen singly, although occasionally in pairs.

There is no information on predation of Galapagos Flycatcher. It is likely that introduced rats and cats depredate nests and nestlings, and cats may catch adult birds as well.

The species does not seem to be affected significantly by the introduced avian pox (Avipoxvirus), with only a few cases (Jiménez et al., ms.), although it was not found in another survey (Jiménez et al. 2007). Nestlings of the flycatcher are parasitized by the introduced ectoparasite Philornis downsi (Fessl et al. 2006).