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Alder Flycatcher

Empidonax alnorumOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Alder Flycatcher Spring Male Portrait
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General

Alder Flycatcher: Small flycatcher with olive-brown upperparts, white underparts, and indistinct white eye-ring. Wings are olive-brown with two white or pale bars. Bill is short with orange lower mandible. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Alder Flycatcher: Breeds from Alaska east through Manitoba to Newfoundland and south to British Columbia, Great Lakes region, and southern New England. Spends winters in tropics. Preferred habitats include alder and birch thickets near riparian areas, swamps, bogs, and ponds.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"fee-beer", "wee-bee"

Interesting Facts

  • The Alder Flycatcher is so similar to the Willow Flycatcher that they were once thought to be the same species. Song is the only definitive way to tell them apart.
  • In an experiment on song learning, Alder Flycatchers were "tutored" with Willow Flycatcher song in the first two months of life. The next spring, they sang normal Alder Flycatcher song.
  • An estimated 63% of their population breeds in Canada's boreal forest.
  • A group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers. test


Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Alder 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
Species Empidonax alnorum
Length5.75 Inches
Wingspan8.5 Inches

Alder Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher: Small flycatcher with olive-brown upperparts, white underparts, and indistinct white eye-ring. Wings are olive-brown with two white or pale bars. Bill is short with orange lower mandible. Black legs and feet. Weak fluttering direct flight with shallow, rapid wing beats.

● Song: "fee-beer", "wee-bee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Alder Flycatcher: Feeds on insects, berries, and a few seeds. Frequently hovers and snatches flying prey from the air; also gleans insects, berries, and seeds from vegetation.

● Breeding & nesting: Alder Flycatcher: Three to four brown-spotted, white eggs are laid in a cup-shaped nest made from bark, weeds, stems, and grass and lined with plant down or other soft materials. Nest is built in a shrub or tree 1 to 4 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Alder Flycatcher: Once considered the same species as Willow Flycatcher, which may have paler eye-ring; however, most individuals are indistinguishable in appearance and are best identified by voice, breeding habitat, or nest. Acadian and Yellow-bellied flycatchers are greener above and more yellow below. Least Flycatcher is grayer above, shorter-tailed, and smaller.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering direct flight with shallow wing beats.
Alder Flycatcher Spring Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Alder Flycatcher: Breeds from Alaska east through Manitoba to Newfoundland and south to British Columbia, Great Lakes region, and southern New England. Spends winters in tropics. Preferred habitats include alder and birch thickets near riparian areas, swamps, bogs, and ponds.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationStable
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.5 Ounces