Hartert (1910) treated this as a part of the "narcissina" group. Some individuals with yellow supercilium have been considered as hybrids with the narcissus flycatcher. Included in this species complex was the species called Elise's flycatcher, usually treated as a subspecies of the narcissus flycatcher. Both "elisae" and "zanthopygia" have been observed to breed separately in the same area of oak forest near Peking strengthening the case for their distinctness. There are also clear call and morphological difference between the two.