| Scientific Name |  Click photo to enlarge. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo by John and Karen Hollingsworth. |
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| Empidonax flaviventris (Baird and Baird) - ATBI Database: Specimen Records | |||||
| Common Name | |||||
| Yellow-bellied Flycatcher | |||||
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | |
| Animalia | Chordata | Aves | Passeriformes | Tyrannidae | |
| Animals | Chordates | Birds | Perching Birds | Flycatchers | |
The yellow-bellied flycatcher is unique among eastern Empidonax both for its whistled song and its yellow throat. It is rarely seen during spring and fall migration, as it spends most of this time in dense thickets, but can be commonly observed on its breeding grounds in northern spruce-fir forests. In the summers between 1977 and 1985, however, this little bird did set up breeding grounds at Mt. Rogers in Virginia. During this time, birders attempting to view these flycatchers often played a recorded version of the birds' song in an attempt to draw it closer for observation. Excessive use of such recordings can disrupt mating cycles, and it is suspected that the yellow-bellied flycatcher abandoned the area for precisely this reason.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
Length: 13 cm - 14 cm (4½ - 5½ inches)
Physical characteristics: One of the smaller flycatchers, bright olive above with two white bars on each wing and a distinct yellow eye-ring. Yellow belly and throat, with olive wash across chest.
Voice: A chebunk or cheberk similar to the Least Flycatcher; also a rising two-note whistle: tu-whee or per-whee, often described as somewhat plaintive.
Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter: Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
DISTRIBUTION
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Breeding:This species is found mostly in British Columbia, Manitoba, and Newfoundland south to Maine, Wisconsin and North Dakota, and in the mountains to Pennsylvania. Click on the map on the left to see the breeding range as determined by the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). |
| Map not available. | Winter: The yellow-bellied flycatcher winters in an area ranging from Mexico to Panama. |
 Click maps to enlarge. |
In Park: The yellow-bellied flycatcher does not breed in the park, and is seen only rarely during migration. |
NATURAL HISTORY
Breeding habitat
Breeding pairs prefer bogs and moist thickets in northern coniferous forests. Ornithologist Frank M. Chapman writes: "To see this little Flycatcher at his best, one must seek the northern evergreen forest. Where all is green and dark and cool, in some glen overarched by crowding spruces and firs, birches and maples, there it is we find him, and in the beds of damp moss he skillfully conceals his nest" (Birds of Northeastern America, 369).
Mating system
Monogamous; usually one brood per season.
Nest
The yellow-bellied flycatcher nests on or near the ground, usually well-hidden by sphagnum moss or other vegetation. The nest is open-cup, constructed mostly of moss and rootlets.
Eggs
3-4 whitish eggs with brown spots.
Chick development
The female incubates the eggs for just under two weeks. Chicks are born altricial, and are fed by both parents for another two weeks until they are ready to fledge.
Diet
The diet of the yellow-bellied flycatcher consists largely of a wide variety of insects such as bees, mosquitoes, and flies, which are hawked from the air or gleaned from the ground. This species of flycatcher also eats some seeds and berries.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
This species is considered fairly common and is not listed as endangered or threatened.
Special Protection Status
Rangewide: None.
Region: None.
In Park: All plants and animals are protected within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Collection requires a permit, which is usually granted only for research or educational purposes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Maps
Breeding: Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2005. Version 6.2.2006. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.
Winter: Sauer, J. R., S. Schwartz, and B. Hoover. 1996. The Christmas Bird Count Home Page. Version 95.1. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.
In Park: Discover Life in America - All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. 2007. The ATBI Database. http://tremont22.campus.utk.edu/ATBI_start.cfm, Discover Life in America, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738.
Photographs
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo by John and Karen Hollingsworth.
Text
Erin Koran, 2003.
Web page
REFERENCES
Birds of New England. 2001. Nature of New England. http://www.nenature.com/Birds.htm
Brunn, Bertel, Chandler S. Robbins, and Herbert S. Zim. 1983. Birds of North America: A Guide to Field
Identification. Expanded, Revised Edition. Golden Press, New York.
Bull, John and John Farrand Jr. 1977. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Chapman, Frank M. 1934. Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America. D. Appleton-Century Company, Inc., New York.
Gough, G.A., Sauer, J. R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html
Sibley, D.A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Simpson Jr., Marcus B. 1992. Birds of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
