Least Flycatcher

 

Another very common bird at Killbear this time of year is the Least Flycatcher. Least Flycatchers are a small flycatcher. Like other flycatchers they tend to perch upright, but they appear a little more compact than most. The primary feathers on their wings are short, which makes their thin tail look longer. Their head is round and is not peaked at the back of the head.

Least Flycatchers congregate in clusters in deciduous forests during the breeding season. They sing incessantly throughout the summer, tossing their head back with each chebec. They tend to flit from perch to perch among dead branches in the middle to upper level of the forest canopy. This is the exact behaviour observed at Killbear during our camping trip.

Eastern Wood-Peewee

 

We have just returned from our annual June trip to Killbear Provincial Park on Georgian Bay. I was fortunate to get an early start every morning coupled with great weather which allowed for some great birding. Most mornings I would have upwards of fifty species. One of the most prominent birds around that area this time of year, after the Red-eyed Vireo and American Redstart which are very numerous, is the Eastern Wood Peewee.

Some interesting facts about the Eastern Wood-Peewee.

The olive-brown Eastern Wood-Pewee is inconspicuous until it opens its bill and gives its unmistakable slurred call. These small flycatchers perch on dead branches in the mid-canopy and sally out after flying insects.

When several flycatcher species live in the same forest, the Eastern Wood-Pewee tends to forage higher in the trees than the Least and Acadian flycatchers, but lower than the Great Crested Flycatcher.

The Eastern Wood-Pewee’s lichen-covered nest is so inconspicuous that it often looks like a knot on a branch.

The oldest recorded Eastern Wood-Pewee was at least 8 years, 2 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Maryland in 2010. Cornell All About Birds