Alder Flycatcher
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| Alder Flycatcher | ||||||||||||||
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| Empidonax alnorum (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 considered to be the same species as the very similar Willow 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.