Flycatchers- ORDER: Passeriformes
- FAMILY: Tyrannidae
Basic Description
Of the dozen or more maddeningly similar species in the Empidonax genus, the cheery Acadian Flycatcher is the common one of mature forests of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S. They perch on slender branches at middle heights to sing explosive ker-chip! songs, or to fly out to catch insects. They are relatively strongly marked among Empidonax species, with rich olive-green plumage, a neat eyering, bold wingbars, and a hefty, partly orange bill. Their affinity for relatively undisturbed forest makes them useful as an indicator of forest health.
More ID InfoFind This Bird
The best way to find this forest-green bird is to listen for its short, emphatic pea soup! or ker-chip! call. Acadian Flycatchers are fairly common in mature deciduous forests, but can be difficult to spot as they sit, mostly motionless, on thin branches in the forest midstory. Once you’ve used the call to roughly approximate where the bird might be sitting, wait patiently for their inevitable swooping flight after a prey insect, and then follow it back to its perch.
Other Names
- Mosquero Verdoso (Spanish)
- Moucherolle vert (French)