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.[citation needed] A unique two-note song described as "ka-zeep" helps to identify this species.[3]
The 15 species of this genus were once all thought to be a single species, which was discovered in Acadia in present-day Nova Scotia. Differences in range, voice, and habitat eventually identified them as separate species. The present-day "Acadian flycatcher" is not found in Acadia.
The numbers of these birds have declined somewhat in the southern parts of their range. Brown-headed cowbirds lay eggs in the nests of these birds in some areas. However, only 16% of cowbird young in Acadian flycatcher nests fledge successfully.
They wait on a perch in the middle of a tree and fly out to catch insects in flight (hawking), also sometimes picking insects from foliage while hovering (gleaning). They may eat some berries and seeds.
They make a loose cup nest in a horizontal fork in a tree or shrub.
The Acadian flycatcher is an excellent flier; it is extremely maneuverable, can hover, and can even fly backward. Curiously, there is no scientific information on hopping or walking by this bird.[5]
As of October 2015 there have been 2 records of Acadian flycatcher in Europe, the first being a bird found dead in Iceland in 1967,[6] and the second a bird found on the beach at Dungeness in Kent, England in September 2015,[7] the latter's identity being established by DNA from its droppings.[8]
^Whitehead, Donald R. and Terry Taylor. (2002). Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens)The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online (subscription required). doi:10.2173/bna.614
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