Least Flycatcher

Empidonax minimus Order: PASSERIFORMES Family: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Least Flycatcher Spring Portrait
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General

Least Flycatcher: Small flycatcher with olive-gray upperparts, gray breast, and pale yellow belly. Eye-ring is white. Bill has pale lower mandible with dark tip. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Least Flycatcher: Breeds from southern Yukon to northern Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, south to southern British Columbia, northeastern Wyoming, eastern Nebraska, southern Missouri, south-central Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and to southern Appalachians; winters from northern Mexico to Nicaragua. Widely distributed in open country; prefers shade trees and orchards in villages and city parks, and along rural roadsides and woodland borders.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chee-BECK", "whitt-whitt-whitt"

Interesting Facts

 The Least Flycatcher was first described in 1843 by Spencer Fullerton Baird, an American ornithologist and ichthyologist. It is also called Chebec, after the sound it makes.

 Unlike most species of songbird, adults migrate to their wintering grounds before molting, while young birds molt before and during autumn migration.

 An incubating bird is surprisingly tame and will often allow itself to be touched or even lifted off the nest, however with other birds it is aggressive and has been known to attack Brown-headed Cowbirds.

 A group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Least Flycatcher

Related Birds

Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Gray Flycatcher
Dusky Flycatcher
Hammond's Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Alder Flycatcher
Acadian Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Cordilleran Flycatcher
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Family Flycatcher (Tyrannidae)_blue
Species Empidonax minimus
Length5.25 Inches
Wingspan8 Inches

Least Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher: Small flycatcher with olive-gray upperparts, gray breast, and pale yellow belly. Eye-ring is white. The bill has pale lower mandible with dark tip. Legs and feet are black. Feeds on insects, spiders, berries and seeds. Weak fluttering direct flight with shallow wing beats.

● Song: "chee-BECK", "whitt-whitt-whitt"

● Foraging & Feeding: Least Flycatcher: Feeds on insects, some spiders, and a few berries and seeds; forages from branches and foliage by perching to spot prey, and then flying out to catch it in mid-air.

● Breeding & nesting: Least Flycatcher: Three to six creamy white eggs are laid in a nest made of grass, bark strips, twigs, lichens, and plant fibers, bound by spider or caterpillar webs, and built in a tree or shrub 2 to 60 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 12 to 17 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Least Flycatcher: Willow, Acadian, and Alder flycatchers are larger with heavier bills, greener upperparts, longer primary extensions, and different voices.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering direct flight with shallow wing beats., Sallies to take insects in-flight and returns to same or nearby perch.
Least Flycatcher Spring Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Least Flycatcher: Breeds from southern Yukon to northern Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, south to southern British Columbia, northeastern Wyoming, eastern Nebraska, southern Missouri, south-central Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and to southern Appalachians; winters from northern Mexico to Nicaragua. Widely distributed in open country; prefers shade trees and orchards in villages and city parks, and along rural roadsides and woodland borders.
BreedingMonogamous, Small colonies, Semicolonial
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.4 Ounces