Alder flycatcher

Alder flycatcher
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Tyrannidae
Genus:	Empidonax
Species:	E. alnorum
Binomial name
Empidonax alnorum (Brewster, 1895)

The alder flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum) is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.

Adults have olive-brown upperparts, browner on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have a white eye ring, white wing bars, a small bill and a short tail. The breast is washed with olive-grey. The upper part of the bill is grey; the lower part is orangish. At one time, this bird was included with the very similar willow flycatcher in a single species, "Traill's flycatcher".

Their breeding habitat is deciduous thickets, often alders or willows, near water across Canada, Alaska and the northeastern United States. They make a cup nest low in a vertical fork in a shrub.

These birds migrate to South America, usually selecting winter habitat near water.

They wait on a perch near the top of a shrub and fly out to catch insects in flight, also sometimes picking insects from foliage while hovering. They may eat some berries and seeds.

This bird's song is a wheezed ree-BEE-a. The call is a quick preet.

External links

• Alder Flycatcher - Empidonax alnorum - USGS Patuxent Bird Identication InfoCenter
• Alder Flycatcher Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology