Alder Flycatcher

Description: Small flycatcher; olive-brown upperparts; throat white; breast is pale olive; faint white eye ring; two whitish wing bars on dark wings; not reliably distinguished from Willow Flycatcher except by voice; lower mandible orange; breast has olive wash; whitish belly and undertail coverts; formerly conspecific with Willow Flycatcher and called Traill's Flycatcher

Habitat: Birch forests, bogs, edges of marshes, damp thickets of alder or willows, near small streams, thickets along borders of ponds. Found farther north and in damper habitat than similar Willow Flycatcher. Breeding habitat is scrubby wet areas - for example, bogs.

The alder flycatcher is a migratory bird that has an average length of 5.75 inches and an average weight of 0.5 oz. The upperparts of the body are olive gray/black with darker wings with buff colored bars. The underparts of the body are pale yellow. It's eyes are dark brown with a distinctive white eye-ring. It has a short bill with an orange lower mandible.

A monogamous bird, they lay three to four brown-spotted eggs in a next made from bark, weeds, stems and grass and lined with plant down or other soft materials. The nest is built 1 to 4 feet above ground in shrubs or trees. The female incubates the eggs for 12 to 14 days.

They feed on insects, berries and a few seeds. They can frequently be seen hovering and then snatching flying insects from the ai... read morer.

A group of flycatchers has many names, including an 'outfield', 'swatting', 'zapper' and 'zipper' of flycatchers.