Yellowish flycatcher facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yellowish flycatcher |
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Empidonax
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| Species: |
flavescens
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The yellowish flycatcher (Empidonax flavescens) is a small passerine bird. It belongs to the tyrant flycatcher family. These birds live in the high mountain areas from southeastern Mexico all the way south to western Panama.
What They Look Like
The yellowish flycatcher is about 12.5 cm (4.9 in) long. That's about the length of your hand! It weighs around 12 g (0.42 oz), which is super light.
Its back and top parts are a pretty olive-green color. Its belly and underparts are yellow. The chest has a slightly orange-yellow tint. Its wings are dark, almost black, with two light yellow stripes on them.
This bird has a white ring around its eye. This ring gets a bit wider behind the eye, making a small triangle shape. Both male and female yellowish flycatchers look similar. Young birds are a bit browner on top and lighter yellow underneath.
When it calls, it makes a thin seeep sound. Its morning song is a quick, repeated seee seee chit.
It can be tricky to tell this bird apart from other Empidonax flycatchers that travel through the area. But the yellowish flycatcher has a more noticeable eye ring than most of them. Also, even though there's a bird called the yellow-bellied flycatcher, the yellowish flycatcher is actually yellower on its belly!
Where They Live
You can find the yellowish flycatcher in cool mountain forests. They especially like the edges of these forests. They also live in open areas, along roads, near streams, and in bushy fields where new plants are growing.
These birds build their nests at heights from about 800 m (2,600 ft) to almost 2,500 m (8,200 ft) above sea level. That's pretty high up in the mountains!
Life and Habits
The yellowish flycatcher builds a deep, cup-shaped nest. They make it from plant fibers and moss. They usually place their nests about 2–4.5 m (6.6–14.8 ft) high. You can often find nests in cracks in tree trunks or in earth banks. Many times, their nests are in mossy spots close to streams.
A female bird usually lays two or three white eggs. These eggs have light reddish-brown speckles on them. The mother bird sits on the eggs for 14 to 15 days until they hatch. After hatching, the baby birds stay in the nest for another 17 days until they are ready to fly.
Sometimes, other birds called bronzed cowbirds will lay their eggs in the yellowish flycatcher's nest. The flycatchers don't seem to mind and will raise the cowbird chicks as their own.
Yellowish flycatchers are very active birds. When they are not raising their young, they are usually seen alone.
They mostly eat insects and spiders. They also enjoy some small berries. When they feed their babies, they give them only insects, especially spiders. They catch their food by picking it off leaves, catching it in the air while flying, or sometimes by picking it up from the ground.
