Alder Flycatcher

Taxobox
name = Alder Flycatcher
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Tyrannidae
genus = "Empidonax"
species = "E. alnorum"
binomial = "Empidonax alnorum"
binomial_authority = (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".

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i4663id.html Alder Flycatcher - "Empidonax alnorum"] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identication InfoCenter
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Alder_Flycatcher.html Alder Flycatcher Species Account] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [http://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/alder_flycatcher_info.htm Alder Flycatcher Information and Photos] - South Dakota Birds