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Acadian Flycatcher - Empidonax virescens

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tyrannidae
Genus: Empidonax

ICUN Redlist - World Status:

Least Concern

Description

The Acadian flycatcher is a small flycatcher. It is around 5 inches in length. It has greenish-brown upperparts, a grayish-white throat, a white lower breast, a light yellow belly, white wing bars, and a white rings around its eyes. Males and females look alike.

Range

map The Acadian flycatcher is a neotropical migrant. It breeds in the eastern half of the United States from Minnesota to southern New England and south to the Gulf Coast and Florida. It winters in northwestern South America in lowland tropical forests in Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.

Habitat

The Acadian flycatcher is found in deciduous forests and by the sides of streams.

Diet

The Acadian flycatcher eats insects. It perches on a branch and waits for them to fly by. It then swoops after the insect and catches it in mid-air. It also gleans insects from foliage. It sometimes eats seeds and berries.

Life Cycle

The female lays 2-4 eggs in a open cup nest woven of plant fibers and placed in a bush or tree, sometimes over a stream. The chicks hatch in two weeks and fledge when they are 13-15 days old. The female may have two broods a year.

Behavior

The Acadian flycatcher is an excellent flyer and very good at maneuvering while in flight. It can hover and even fly backwards. It even flies when it is taking a bath. It dives into the water and then returns to its perch and shakes off the water and then preens.

Audio Credit: xeno-canto.org Andrew Spenser