Acadian Flycatcher

On 27 May 2013, I banded this Acadian Flycatcher. This species is one of the very difficult to identify birds in the genus Empidonax. They are best told about by song. Unfortunately, birds almost never sing while I band them. I based my identification of this flycatcher by the greenish wash to its upperparts.

Acadian Flycatchers breed in the nearby Cannon River Wilderness Area, but I have banded very few. In the Wilderness Area, they are found near creeks. They forage for insects in the lower forest levels. You can find these flycatchers by listening for their “tee-chup” and “peet-sah” songs.

Acadian flycatcher populations appear to be stable across their eastern North American range. The species, however, is vulnerable to forest fragmentation and to cowbird parasitism (Whitehead and Taylor 2002)