Willow Flycatcher
Willow Flycatcher: Small flycatcher, brown-olive upperparts, white throat contrasting with paler breast, white to pale yellow belly. Head has darker cap, faint white eye rings. Dark wings with two white bars. Feeds on insects, spiders, berries. Weak fluttering flight with shallow rapid wing beats.
● Song:
"fitz-bew", "fritz-be-yew"
● Foraging & Feeding:
Willow Flycatcher: Feeds on insects; forages in flight, sometimes picking insects from foliage.
● Breeding & nesting:
Willow Flycatcher: Two to four brown spotted, white to pale buff eggs are laid in a neat, compact cup of plant down and fibers built in a low bush or sapling. Incubation ranges from 12 to 15 days and is carried out by the female.
● Similar species:
Willow Flycatcher: Alder Flycatcher has a shorter bill, more prominent eye-ring, and less brown on upperparts.
● Range & Habitat:
Willow Flycatcher: Breeds from southern British Columbia, Alberta, North Dakota, New York, and Maine south to central California, Nevada, the southwest, Arkansas, and Virginia. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include swampy thickets, upland pastures, and old abandoned orchards; also occurs along wooded lakeshores and streams.