Alder Flycatcher
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| Alder Flycatcher | ||||||||||||||
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| Empidonax alnorum (Brewster, 1895) |
The Alder Flycatcher, Empidonax alnorum, is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.
Adults have olive-brown upperparts, browner on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have a white eye ring, white wing bars, a small bill and a short tail. The breast is washed with olive-grey. The upper part of the bill is grey; the lower part is orangish. At one time, this bird was included with the very similar Willow Flycatcher in a single species, "Traill's Flycatcher".
Their breeding habitat is deciduous thickets, often alders or willows, near water across Canada, Alaska and the northeastern United States. They make a cup nest low in a vertical fork in a shrub.
These birds migrate to South America, usually selecting winter habitat near water.
They wait on a perch near the top of a shrub and fly out to catch insects in flight, also sometimes picking insects from foliage while hovering. They may eat some berries and seeds.
This bird's song is a wheezed wee-bee. The call is a quick preet.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Empidonax alnorum. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 6 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
[edit] External links
- Alder Flycatcher - Empidonax alnorum - USGS Patuxent Bird Identication InfoCenter
- Alder Flycatcher Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Alder Flycatcher Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds
