yellow-bellied flycatcher

{{Short description|Species of bird}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Yellow-bellied flycatcher

| image = Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - Empidonax flaviventris.jpg

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=Empidonax flaviventris |volume=2016 |page=e.T22699839A93750697 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22699839A93750697.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}

| genus = Empidonax

| species = flaviventris

| authority = (Baird, WM & Baird, SF, 1843)

| range_map = Empidonax flaviventris map.svg

| range_map_caption = Approximate distribution map

{{leftlegend|#FF7F2A|Breeding}}

{{leftlegend|#FFDD55|Migration}}

{{leftlegend|#5F8DD3|Non-breeding}}

}}

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

Description

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."{{cite web |last1=Engel |first1=Joshua |title=A first for Illinois, discovered in The Field Museum's collection |url=https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/first-illinois-discovered-field-museums-collection |publisher=Field Museum of Natural History |access-date=19 February 2022 |date=26 November 2014}}{{cite web |last1=Engel |first1=Joshua |title=Follow up: A first for Illinois, discovered in the Field Museum's collection |url=https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/follow-first-illinois-discovered-field-museums-collection |publisher=Field Museum of Natural History |access-date=19 February 2022 |date=2 December 2014}}

Measurements:{{Cite web|title=Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology|url=https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-bellied_Flycatcher/id|access-date=2020-09-27|website=www.allaboutbirds.org|language=en}}

  • Length: {{convert|5.1|-|5.9|in|cm|abbr=on}}
  • Weight: {{convert|0.3|-|0.6|oz|g|abbr=on}}
  • Wingspan: {{convert|7.1|-|7.9|in|cm|abbr=on}}

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.

File:Empidonax flaviventris - Yellow-bellied Flycatcher XC134691.ogg

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."

File:Yellow-bellied Flycatcher2.jpg

Breeding

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

These birds migrate to southern Mexico and Central America.

References

{{Reflist}}