Hammond's Flycatcher Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A tiny and delicately built songbird with a very short, pointed bill, comparatively long, pointed wings (that reach farther down the tail than in Dusky Flycatchers—this is known as “primary projection”). Hammond’s appear large-eyed, large-headed, and somewhat short-tailed (because of the longer primary projection) than Dusky and Gray Flycatchers.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Red-breasted Nuthatch, slightly smaller than a Western Wood-Pewee.

  sparrow-sized or smaller

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 4.9-6.1 in (12.5-15.5 cm)
    • Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (7.7-12.1 g)
    • Wingspan: 8.7 in (22 cm)

• Color Pattern

  Greenish-olive above with a grayish head and pale eyering that is wider behind the eye. The breast is washed with olive-gray and the belly is faintly yellow. The dark wings have prominent pale wingbars.

• Behavior

  Sits with an upright posture. Forages by sallying out from a perch and capturing flying insects with the bill or by gleaning insects from leaves, bark, or the ground.

• Habitat

  Nests largely in mature evergreen forests, mostly in mountains of western North America. Uses similar habitats on migration and in winter.