Acadian Flycatcher

Empidonax virescens

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family TYRANNIDAE - Subfamily Fluvicolinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status

A denizen of mature deciduous forests and streamsides, the Acadian Flycatcher is usually first noticed by its explosive "peet-sah" call. It is the largest and greenest of the North American Empidonax flycatchers, and has the largest bill. Still, it is best distinguished from its congeners by its call.

Cool Facts

• Curiously, no information exists on the ability of the Acadian Flycatcher to walk or hop. It is an excellent flier, though, extremely maneuverable and able to hover and even fly backward. It has been observed bathing not by standing in water, but rather by diving into water from above, hitting the water with its chest, and then returning to a perch to preen and shake.

• The male defends his territory with a characteristic "peet-sah" song. The female may use the same call in stressful situations, such as when disturbed from the nest or right after being released from a mist net.

• The Acadian Flycatcher is a common host to the brood-parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird, which lays its eggs in other birds' nests. Nests are parasitized more in small woodlots than in large tracts of forest. The frequency of parasitism is lower for the flycatcher than for other bird species in the same forests. From the cowbird's perspective the Acadian Flycatcher does not seem to be a particularly good host: only 16% of cowbird young in Acadian Flycatcher nests fledged successfully.

Description

• Size: 15 cm (6 in)
• Wingspan: 23 cm (9 in)
• Weight: 11-14 g (0.39-0.49 ounces)

• Small flycatcher.
• Prominent eyering and wingbars.
• Back greenish.

• Olive-green band across chest.
• Bill broad.
• Lower mandible entirely pinkish yellow.
• Legs gray.
• Throat and belly pale whitish; may be washed with yellow.
• Eyering thin and white or yellowish white.
• Wings dark.
• Wingbars buffy white to rich buff.
• Primary projection rather long.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but wingbars buffier and body feathers with buffy edges.

Similar Species

• Eastern Wood-Pewee is browner, has no or only weak eyering, and has dirty smudging under the tail.
• Difficult to distinguish from other Empidonax flycatchers (especially Willow and Alder), but is greener, has a paler face that does not contrast much with throat, and has a longer primary projection.
• In fall can be confused with Yellow-bellied Flycatcher because of yellowish on throat and underparts. Yellow-bellied has shorter bill and tail, and the throat is more grayish yellow (compared with clear yellow in acadian).

Sound

Song an explosive "peet-sah" or "flee-sick." Call note a sharp "peet."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from southern Minnesota, southern Ontario, and southern New England southward to upper Gulf Coast and northern Florida.

Winter Range

Winters in southern Central America and northern South America.

Habitat

• Breeds in mature forest, especially deciduous woods, along streams, in ravines, and in swamps.
• Winters in lowland tropical forest and second growth.

Food

Insects, insect larvae, and other arthropods.

Behavior

Foraging

Captures insects primarily by snatching them from leaves, especially from the undersides. Also hovers to glean insects and catches some in flight. Occasionally forages on ground.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nest a shallow, thin cup of fine materials held together with spider and insect silk, usually dangling streamers of material on silk below nest. Slung hammock-like in fork of small branch in tree, usually over water.

Egg Description

Creamy to buffy white with some small brownish spots at larger end.

Clutch Size

Usually 3 eggs. Range: 1-4.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with some white down.

Conservation Status

Populations nationwide appear stable, but may be declining in Midwest. Considered area-sensitive, showing a negative impact of forest fragmentation. Vulnerable to loss of wintering habitat.

Sources used to construct this page:

Whitehead, D. R., and T. Taylor. 2002. Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens). In The Birds of North America, No. 614 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.