Least flycatcher
| Least flycatcher | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Tyrannidae |
| Genus: | Empidonax |
| Species: | E. minimus |
| Binomial name | |
| Empidonax minimus (Baird, 1843) | |
The least flycatcher (Empidonax minimus), (also called chebec, or chebecker, after the sound it makes), is a small insect-eating bird. It is the smallest Empidonax flycatcher in eastern North America.
Description
The least flycatcher is between 5 and 5 3⁄4 inches (13 and 15 cm) long, with a 7 1⁄2 to 8 1⁄2 in (19 to 22 cm) spread.[2] It typically weighs around 11 grams (0.39 oz).[3] Adults have greyish-olive upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have a conspicuous white eye ring, white wing bars, a small, short bill and a short tail. The breast is washed with grey and the sides of the belly with yellow. It is similar in appearance to the larger eastern wood pewee.[4]
Distribution and habitat
Their breeding habitat is open deciduous or mixed woods across Canada and the northern United States. They make a cup nest on a fork in a small tree.
These birds migrate to Mexico and Central America.
Behaviour
They wait on an open perch low or in the middle of a tree and fly out to catch insects in flight (hawking), also sometimes picking insects from foliage while hovering (gleaning). They sometimes eat berries.[5]
The song is a dry che-bec. The call is a sharp whit.
References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Empidonax minimus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ Forbush, Edward Howe; May, John Bichard (1955). A Natural History of American Birds of Eastern and Central North America. Bramhall Books. pp. 318–319. ISBN 978-1-258-21691-7.
- ↑ McGillivray, William Bruce; Semenchuk, Glen Peter (1998). Federation of Alberta Naturalists Field Guide to Alberta Birds. Nature Alberta. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-9696134-2-8. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
- ↑ "Least Flycatcher". Nova Scotia Museum. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
- ↑ "Least Flycatcher". All About Birds. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Empidonax minimus. |
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Wikispecies has information related to: Empidonax minimus |
- Least Flycatcher videos, photos, and sounds at the Internet Bird Collection
- Empidonax minimus on Avibase
- Least Flycatcher - Empidonax minimus at the USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Least Flycatcher photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Interactive range map of Empidonax minimus at IUCN Red List maps