Empidonax minimus

An extremely small (5 ¼ inches) flycatcher resembling several related species in the genus Empidonax, the Least Flycatcher may best be separated from its relatives not by appearance, but by its ‘che-BEK’ song. Physical field marks include a green-gray body, white eye ring, pale breast, thin bill, and white wing bars. Male and female Least Flycatchers are similar to one another in all seasons. The Least Flycatcher breeds across much of Canada and northern portions of the United States. Smaller populations occur south of this species main range at higher elevations in the Appalachian Mountains. Least Flycatchers spend the winter in south Florida, Mexico, and Central America, although identifying this species’ in much of its winter range is difficult due to its similarity to other related species. Least Flycatchers breed in open forests with deciduous trees or a mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees. This species may be found in similar habitats on migration. In its winter range, the Least Flycatcher inhabits topical forest edges and thickets. This species primarily eats insects. In northern forests in summer, Least Flycatchers are most likely to be seen darting through the canopy while gleaning insects from leaves or while catching prey in mid-air. Even when active, however, the Least Flycatcher is a difficult bird to identify. Learning this species’ song is crucial to separating it from its relatives, and silent birds are frequently impossible to identify in areas with multiple Empidonax species. Least Flycatchers are primarily active during the day, but, like many migratory songbirds, this species migrates at night.

Threat Status: Least concern

Breeds Canada and US; winters n Mexico to Panama.

occurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

Canada

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Breeding

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Breeding

Global Range: (>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)) BREEDS: southern Yukon to northern Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, south to southern British Columbia, northeastern Wyoming, eastern Nebraska, southern Missouri, south-central Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, and to southern Appalachians. WINTERS: northern Mexico regularly to Nicaragua, rarely to Costa Rica, casually to central Panama (Stiles and Skutch 1989).

Length: 13 cm

Weight: 10 grams

Systems

• Terrestrial

Comments: Open woodland and brushy areas, forest borders, thinned woodland, tall second growth. In maple forests in Quebec, occurred where trees were the tallest, sugar maple was in nearly pure stand, and subcanopy was sparse (Darveau 1992).

Nests in poplar woodland, deciduous scrub, forest edge, parks, old orchards, roadside shade trees, and gardens; in crotch or on limb of tree (often deciduous) or shrub, often 3-6 m above ground.

Non-Migrant: No. All populations of this species make significant seasonal migrations.

Locally Migrant: No. No populations of this species make local extended movements (generally less than 200 km) at particular times of the year (e.g., to breeding or wintering grounds, to hibernation sites).

Locally Migrant: Yes. At least some populations of this species make annual migrations of over 200 km.

Migrates north through U.S. to nesting areas April-June (Terres 1980).

Comments: Eats mainly insects obtained by flycatching and hover-gleaning from perch under forest canopy or from fence post, wire, or other perch; also eats spiders, seeds, small fruits (Terres 1980).

Empidonax minimus (Baltimore oriole, chickadee, least flycatcher, rosebreasted grosbeak, willow thrush) is prey of:
Accipiter striatus
Accipiter cooperii
Bubo virginianus

Based on studies in:
Canada: Manitoba (Forest)

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

Empidonax minimus (Baltimore oriole, chickadee, least flycatcher, rosebreasted grosbeak, willow thrush) preys on:
Araneae
Insecta

Based on studies in:
Canada: Manitoba (Forest)

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

In maple forests in Quebec, density averaged 1.7 pairs/ha (Darveau et al. 1992). In New Hampshire, least flycatchers locally excluded ASY (after second year) American redstarts from the best patches of habitat within a heterogeneous array of such patches (Sherry and Holmes 1988). In winter, solitary and sedentary, both sexes territorial (Stiles and Skutch 1989, Rappole and Warner 1980).

Maximum longevity: 8 years (wild)

Clutch size is 2-6 (usually 4). Incubation lasts 14-16 days, by female (which male may feed). Young leave nest at 13-16 days, tended by both parents for up to 20 days after leaving nest.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There are 8 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank.  Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species.  See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.

Download FASTA File

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 8
Specimens with Barcodes: 8
Species With Barcodes: 1

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Justification

History

• 2008
  Least Concern
• 2004
  Least Concern

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: N5B - Secure

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: N5B - Secure

Rounded Global Status Rank: G5 - Secure

Reasons: Populations evidently are relatively stable over much of the large range.

Global Short Term Trend: Relatively stable (=10% change)

Global Long Term Trend: Increase of 10-25% to decline of 30%

Comments: Local declines were noted (e.g., in the western Great Lakes region), but populations were stable or increasing in other areas (Ehrlich et al. 1992). Breeding Bird Survey data indicate a significant population decline in eastern North America, 1966-1988, and a significant increase in western North America, 1966-1988 and 1978-1988 (Sauer and Droege 1992). Overall, in North America, BBS data indicate a nonsignificant average annual decrease of 0.4% for the period 1966-1989 (Droege and Sauer 1990).

Comments: In Quebec, a moderate level of sugar maple decline (loss of foliage) did not affect nesting success, but birds may be negatively affected in more subtle ways (thermal strees of nestlings, more feeding and brooding required of parents) (Darveau et al. 1993).