Adults have pale gray upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with a faint olive tinge after molting in fall. Underparts are whitish, but washed slightly with yellow in fresh plumage. They have white wing bars and an inconspicuous white eye ring. There is a pale supraloral band stretching above the base of the bill. Relative to other North American "Empidonax" flycatchers, the American gray flycatcher has a long, narrow bill, a long tail, and the mandible tends to be paler for more of its length.