Order Passeriformes Higher classification Empidonax | Phylum Chordata Family Tyrannidae Scientific name Empidonax flaviventris Rank Species | |
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Similar Bird, Tyrant flycatcher, Least flycatcher, Alder flycatcher, Empidonax | ||
Yellow bellied flycatcher
The yellow-bellied flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris) is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.
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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.
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.
These birds migrate to southern Mexico and Central America.
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.
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." To identify the difference between the two species by sound: yellow-bellied flycatchers make the sound TSE-berk at five second intervals, and the least flycatcher at one or two second intervals. The three primary call notes of yellow-bellied flycatcher are a clear, ascending "chu-wee," It soua sharp, gruff "peekk", and a soft, descending "pyu."
Yellow bellied flycatcher calling
