Acadian flycatcher

The Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.

Description

Adults have olive upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have a white eye ring, white wing bars and a wide bill. The breast is washed with olive. The upper part of the bill is dark; the lower part is yellowish. This bird's song is an explosive peet-sa. The call is a soft peet. They also have a call similar to that of the northern flicker.Template:Citation needed A unique two-note song described as "ka-zeep" helps to identify this species.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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Taxonomy

Originally described in 1810 by ornithologist Alexander Wilson, its first scientific name was Muscicapa querula.<ref>Allen, M. C., M. M. Napoli, J. Sheehan, T. L. Master, P. Pyle, D. R. Whitehead, and T. Taylor (2020). Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.acafly.01</ref> The Acadian flycatcher is the only member of its clade within Empidonax, but is most closely related to willow and alder flycatchers.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Distribution

Its breeding habitat is deciduous forests, often near water, across the eastern United States and southwestern Ontario. These birds migrate through eastern Mexico and the Caribbean to southern Central America and the very northwest of South America in Colombia, western Venezuela, and Ecuador.

The numbers of these birds have declined somewhat in the southern parts of their range. Brown-headed cowbirds lay eggs in the nests of these birds in some areas. However, only 16% of cowbird young in Acadian flycatcher nests fledge successfully.

They wait on a perch in the middle of a tree and fly out to catch insects in flight (hawking), also sometimes picking insects from foliage while hovering (gleaning). They may eat some berries and seeds.

They make a loose, shallow nest in a horizontal forks of trees and shrubs, primarily in lowland forests and marshy areas.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The Acadian flycatcher is an excellent flier; it is extremely maneuverable, can hover, and can even fly backward. Curiously, there is no scientific information on hopping or walking by this bird.<ref>Whitehead, Donald R. and Terry Taylor. (2002). Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online (subscription required). {{#invoke:doi|main}}</ref>

As of October 2015 there have been 2 records of Acadian flycatcher in Europe, the first being a bird found dead in Iceland in 1967,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the second a bird found on the beach at Dungeness in Kent, England in September 2015,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the latter's identity being established by DNA from its droppings.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

• Acadian flycatcher – Empidonax virescens USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Acadian flycatcher Species Account – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Acadian flycatcher videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Acadian flycatcher photo gallery VIREO Photo-High Res--(Close-up)