The Great Crested Flycatcher is a bird of open woodlands and forest edges in eastern North America and is thought to have benefited from forest fragmentation [Zeller and Hammerson 1993, Lanyon 1997]. It inhabits a wide variety of deciduous forests, from second-growth woodlands to residential areas, but generally avoids forest interiors [Bent 1942, Lanyon 1997]. The species is common throughout its breeding range, which extends across the eastern half of the U.S. and into southern Canada [Zeller and Hammerson 1993]. In Canada, it occurs farther west than in the U.S., reaching into eastern Alberta [Semenchuck 1992]. These flycatchers winter predominantly in the lowlands of southern Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America, but there is also a smaller wintering population in south and central Florida and in Cuba [Lanyon 1997 (BNA)]. The wintering Florida population is not well understood as Great Crested Flycatchers breed there as well; some evidence indicates that the population is sedentary [Lanyon 1997 (BNA)].
In migration, these flycatchers migrate through northeastern Mexico [Howell and Webb 1995]. Based on records of occurrences on several Caribbean Islands, it is believed that some individuals migrate across the Gulf of Mexico. However, it is not known whether or not this is the primary route taken [Lanyon 1997 (BNA)]. Their migratory route is not well understood in North America either [Lanyon 1997 (BNA)], although migrants are more common in Massachusetts in spring than in the fall [Veit and Petersen 1993]. In spring, migrants depart their southernmost breeding grounds by late April and begin to arrive on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. by mid- to late March [Lanyon 1997 (BNA)]. They may reach Massachusetts in late April, but generally do not peak until mid-May [Veit and Petersen 1993]. By mid- to late May, migrants have arrived in Canada [Lanyon 1997 (BNA)]. In fall, migrants typically depart New England by mid-September [Veit and Petersen 1993, Delorey 1996] and arrive back on their wintering grounds by mid-October [Lanyon 1997 (BNA)]. Great Crested Flycatchers migrate singly and at least some migration is nocturnal [Stevenson and Anderson 1994].
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