Cordilleran Flycatcher Gallery
Empidonax occidentalis
eBird gives this description of the Cordilleran Flycatcher: Small, olive flycatcher. Brighter yellowish than other flycatchers, with two buffy wingbars. Bold eyering comes to a point behind the eye. Found in dry forest in mountainous areas in summer. Migrates through a variety of wooded habitats. Feeds on insects by sallying out to snatch them in flight. Best separated from its identical twin, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, by range. All About Birds provides this additional descriptive information for the Cordilleran Flycatcher: Found mostly east of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, the Cordilleran Flycatcher is a common small yellowish flycatcher of shaded forests. Nearly identical in appearance to the Pacific-slope Flycatcher, the two forms were formerly considered to be the same species, known as the “Western Flycatcher.”
I saw my first Codilleran Flycatcher on my visit to the Christmas Mountains Oasis on August 31, 2020. I enjoyed watching this distinctive little flycatcher!
“Cool Facts” about the Cordilleran Flycatcher from All About Birds…
- The Cordilleran and Pacific-slope flycatchers are very similar, and can be distinguished only by very slight differences in body and feather measurements and by voice. Even voice is difficult, with only the position notes of the males differing, and those differences being best detected by viewing a spectrogram.