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Hammond's Flycatcher

Empidonax hammondiiOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Hammond's Flycatcher Portrait
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General

Hammond's Flycatcher: Small flycatcher with gray upperparts gray-brown underparts and white eye-ring. Throat is pale gray and belly is pale yellow. Wings are dark with two pale bars. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is browner with olive-brown wing-bars.

Range and Habitat

Hammond's Flycatcher: Breeds from eastern Alaska south to northern California and northern New Mexico. Spends winters in the tropics and rarely in Arizona. Preferred habitats include mature conifer forests at high altitudes.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"seweep-tsurp-seep", "peep", "wit"

Interesting Facts

 The Hammond's Flycatcher looks very similar to Gray and Dusky flycatchers; all three species overlap in range, but differ in voice and habitat.

 Early in the breeding season males fight so vigorously defending their territories that they often become locked together in midair.

 The name of this bird commemorates William Alexander Hammond.

 A group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Hammond's Flycatcher
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Flycatcher (Tyrannidae)_blue
Species Empidonax hammondii
Length5.5 Inches
Wingspan9 Inches

Hammond's Flycatcher

Hammond's Flycatcher: Small flycatcher, gray upperparts, gray-brown underparts, white eye-ring. Throat is pale gray, belly is pale yellow. Wings are dark with two pale bars. Feeds on insects. Black legs and feet. Weak fluttering direct flight with shallow wing beats. Sallies to take insects in air.

● Song: "seweep-tsurp-seep", "peep", "wit"

● Foraging & Feeding: Hammond's Flycatcher: Eats mostly insects; forages at mid-level in conifers and aspens.

● Breeding & nesting: Hammond's Flycatcher: Three or four creamy white eggs, occasionally with brown spots, are laid in a well-built cup nest saddled on a branch 15 to 60 feet above the ground, usually in a conifer. Incubation ranges from 12 to 16 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Hammond's Flycatcher: Dusky Flycatcher has a longer bill, pale gray throat, longer tail, and different voice. Least Flycatcher is slightly smaller, grayer above, whiter below, and has a different voice.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering flight with shallow wing beats.
Hammond's Flycatcher Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Hammond's Flycatcher: Breeds from eastern Alaska south to northern California and northern New Mexico. Spends winters in the tropics and rarely in Arizona. Preferred habitats include mature conifer forests at high altitudes.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationWidespread
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.4 Ounces