Acadian Flycatcher

Overview

Acadian Flycatcher: Small flycatcher with olive-gray upperparts, pale gray throat, distinctive pale yellow eye-ring, white lower breast, yellow belly, undertail coverts. Wings are olive-gray with two buff wing bars. Long broad-based bill with yellow-orange lower mandible. Black legs, feet.

Range and Habitat

Acadian Flycatcher: Breeds from southern Minnesota east through southern New England, south to the Gulf Coast and central Florida. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include beech, maple, and hemlock forests, usually under the canopy but also in clearings, often in wooded ravines.

INTERESTING FACTS

The 15 species of this family were once all thought to be the same as the first that were discovered in Acadia, or present day Nova Scotia. Differences in range, voice and habit eventually identified them as separate species. Ironically the Acadian Flycatcher was the name given to the southern most species; it doesn’t visit the northeast coast of America.
The Acadian Flycatcher is an excellent flier, it is extremely maneuverable, able to hover and can even fly backward.
They are a common host to the Brown-headed Cowbird, which lays its eggs in other birds' nests. However only 16% of cowbird young in Acadian Flycatcher nests fledge successfully.
A group of flycatchers has many collective nouns, including an "outfield", "swatting", "zapper", and "zipper" of flycatchers.

The Acadian Flycatcher is a wide ranging bird that is native to numerous areas in North America as well as South America. This species of bird has been found as far north as Canada and as far south as Panama, reaching a range up to 3 million square kilometers. The global population of the Acadian Flycatcher is estimated to be nearly 5 million individual birds. Due to the fact that the population of this species is currently so high, at the current time this species is not considered to be nearing possible population decline and has a Least Concern evaluation.