| Acadian Flycatcher Identification Tips |
| (Credit: U. S. Geological Survey) |
| General
Information - Small flycatcher - Triangular head - White eye ring - Lower mandible orange - Brownish-olive upperparts - Breast has olive wash - Whitish throat, belly and undertail coverts - Sometimes has yellowish wash to underparts - Wing bars-white in adults, buffy in immatures - Often found in woodlands near water-along rivers, in swamps, et al. Similar species The empidonax flycatchers are very difficult to tell apart. The safest way to differentiate them is by habitat, range, and voice in the breeding season. Differences in plumage due to molt, wear and age make the plumage quite variable. A combination of features is helpful for identifying this species: size-it is larger than Yellow-bellied and Least, color-it has greener upperparts and yellower underparts than all but the Yellow-bellied. The Yellow-bellied flycatcher is usually more yellow underneath-especially on the throat, is smaller and more active, and has a smaller bill. Alder and Willow are browner above and whiter below with less obvious eye rings. Least is smaller, grayer above and whiter below and has a smaller bill. Empidonax flycatchers from the western United States have darker lower mandibles, and whiter underparts (Gray and Dusky), darker breasts (Hammond's), or oval eye rings (Pacific Slope and Cordilleran) as well as different ranges. Pewees are larger, browner above, whiter below and have indistinct eye rings. |
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