Acadian Flycatcher

The Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.

Adults have olive upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have a white eye ring, white wing bars, and a wide bill. The breast is washed with olive. The upper part of the bill is dark; the lower part is yellowish. This bird’s song is an explosive peet-sa. The call is a soft peet. They also have a call similar to that of the northern flicker A unique two-note song described as “ka-zeep,” and its location in its preferred habitat, are two features that help to identify this species. [Wikipedia]

Acadian Flycatcher

A denizen of mature deciduous forests and stream sides, the Acadian Flycatcher is usually first noticed by its explosive “peet-sah” call. It is the largest and greenest of the North American Empidonax. [All about Birds]

Acadian Flycatcher

Acadian Flycatcher Facts [All About Birds]

• Curiously, no information exists on the ability of the Acadian Flycatcher to walk or hop. It is an excellent flier, though, extremely maneuverable and able to hover and even fly backward. It has been observed bathing not by standing in water, but rather by diving into the water from above, hitting the water with its chest, and then returning to a perch to preen and shake.
• The male defends his territory with a characteristic “peet-sah” song. The female may use the same call in stressful situations, such as when disturbed from the nest or right after being released from a mist net.
• The Acadian Flycatcher is a common host to the brood-parasitic Brown-headed Cowbird, which lays its eggs in other birds’ nests. Nests are parasitized more in small woodlots than in large tracts of forest. The frequency of parasitism is lower for the flycatcher than for other bird species in the same forests. From the cowbird’s perspective, the Acadian Flycatcher does not seem to be a particularly good host: only 16% of cowbird young in Acadian Flycatcher nests fledged successfully.
• The oldest Acadian Flycatcher was over 12 years old when it was recaptured and rereleased during a banding operation in Louisiana