Small flycatcher with a peaked crown and teardrop-shaped eyering. Olive above and yellowish below, with two light wingbars.
Small flycatcher found in forested habitats. Olive overall, with individuals showing varying amounts of yellow below. Note peaked crown, teardrop-shaped eyering, and whitish wingbars. Bill is black above and orangish below.
Small flycatcher with a peaked crown, teardrop-shaped eyering, and two light wingbars. Olive above with varying amounts of yellow below. Flicks tail frequently (as do some other Western Empidonax flycatchers).
Rare visitor to eastern North America, usually in late fall. The combination of yellowish underparts and teardrop-shaped eyering helps in differentiating from eastern Empidonax flycatchers.
Small flycatcher with olive upperparts, two light wingbars, peaked crown, and teardrop-shaped eyering. Fairly broad bill is orangish below.
Nests on banks (as well as in trees, shrubs, and cavities, or on buildings and bridges). The female builds an elaborate cup nest, adding mosses and lichens to the outside of the nest.
Small, olive-backed flycatcher with teardrop-shaped eyering, peaked crown, and white wingbars.
Usually yellowish below, with darker wash across breast (but some individuals have very limited yellow).
Calls include a short "tsip" and a piercing "seet."
Click on an image to compare
A slim, small songbird with an upright posture, a large head that often looks peaked, and a straight, fairly wide bill. The tail is moderately long.
Larger than a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and smaller than a Say’s Phoebe.
sparrow-sized or smallerFrom 1989 to 2023 the Western Flycatcher was treated as two species, Pacific-slope Flycatcher and Cordilleran Flycatcher, and these are now treated as subspecies groups. The "Pacific-slope" group breeds mainly in coastal mountain ranges from southeastern Alaska to Baja California, while the "Cordilleran" group breeds primarily in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Madre, from southwestern Canada to southern Mexico. These two groups are extremely difficult to distinguish from each other, even in their core ranges—the songs and calls of males are the best way to do so. Where the two groups come together across a broad area in southwestern Canada and the northwestern United States, it is impossible to tell them apart—the birds in this area are intergrades that do not show any consistent physical, vocal, or genetic differences.
Need Bird ID Help? Try Merlin
The Cornell Lab will send you updates about birds,
birding, and opportunities to help bird conservation.
