Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 4.7–5.5 in
12–14 cm - Wingspan
- 7.9 in
20 cm - Weight
- 0.3–0.5 oz
8–13 g
Other Names
- Moucherolle tchébec (French)
- Mosquerito mínimo, Tontín chebec (Spanish)
Cool Facts
- Unlike most species of songbird, adult Least Flycatchers migrate to their wintering grounds before molting, while young birds molt before and during autumn migration. Why such a pattern has developed remains unclear, but it may result from strong selection on adults for early arrival and establishment of territories on the wintering grounds.
- One Least Flycatcher nest was found to have used dragonfly wings as nest lining.
Habitat
Forest
Breeds in semi-open woodlands, orchards, and shrubby fields. Winters along wooded ravines, woodland edge, and brushland.
Food
Insects
Mostly insects, some fruit in winter.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Egg Description
- Yellowish or creamy white, unmarked.
- Condition at Hatching
- Helpless and with only small patches of down.
Nest Description
Neat open cup woven of bark strips, grass, caterpillar webs, lichens, hair, feathers, rootlets, mosses, and other bits of vegetation; lined with fine grasses, feathers, hair, down, and plant stems; placed in crotch or fork of small tree.
Nest Placement
Tree
Behavior
Flycatching
Captures insects by hawking and hover-gleaning.
Conservation
Least Concern
Common. Some populations may be slightly declining.
Credits
- Briskie, J. V. 1994. Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus). In The Birds of North America, No. 99 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists' Union.