Yellow-bellied flycatcher

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The yellow-bellied flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris) is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.

Yellow-bellied flycatcher
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Tyrannidae
Genus: Empidonax
Species:
E. flaviventris
Binomial name
Empidonax flaviventris
(Baird, WM & Baird, SF, 1843)
Approximate distribution map
  Breeding
  Migration
  Non-breeding

Description

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Adults have greenish upperparts and yellowish underparts (especially on the throat), with a dusky wash on the chest. They have a white or yellow eye ring that lacks the teardrop projection of Pacific-slope (E. difficilis) or cordilleran (E. occidentalis) flycatchers, white or yellowish wing bars that contrast strongly against the black wings, a broad, flat bill, and a relatively short tail when compared to other members of the genus. The upper mandible of the bill is dark, while the lower mandible is orange-pink. DNA testing in 2014 confirmed a field mark, involving the extent of buffy edging on the secondaries, to reliably distinguish this species from the two so-called "Western Flycatchers."[2][3]

Measurements:[4]

  • Length: 5.1–5.9 in (13–15 cm)
  • Weight: 0.3–0.6 oz (8.5–17.0 g)
  • Wingspan: 7.1–7.9 in (18–20 cm)

Yellow-bellied flycatchers wait on a perch low or in the middle of a tree and fly out to catch insects in flight, sometimes hovering over foliage. They sometimes eat berries or seeds.

Yellow-bellied flycatcher song, recorded in Minnesota in late May

The yellow-bellied flycatcher's song can be transcribed as a rough, descending "tse-berk", which can be similar to the more common least flycatcher's snappier, more evenly pitched "che-bek."

 
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher at Rancho Naturalista Baja - Costa Rica

Breeding

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Their breeding habitat is wet northern woods, especially spruce bogs, across Canada and the northeastern United States. They make a cup nest in sphagnum moss on or near the ground.

Migration

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These birds migrate to southern Mexico and Central America.

References

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  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Empidonax flaviventris". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22699839A93750697. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22699839A93750697.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ Engel, Joshua (26 November 2014). "A first for Illinois, discovered in The Field Museum's collection". Field Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  3. ^ Engel, Joshua (2 December 2014). "Follow up: A first for Illinois, discovered in the Field Museum's collection". Field Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology". www.allaboutbirds.org. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
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