Appearance
8-9 inches. A large headed bird. Upper parts black or slate grey with the underside white. Tail is black with a white tip. There is a pale grey wash on the chest. Head is blackish and the wings and shoulders a blue-black color. Crown has a patch of orange-red that is rarely seen.The long crown feathers and upright posture of the bird are distinctive. Juvenile is browner above and grayer on the chest.
Food
Insects and berries in the fall. Some green foliage. Darts out from a perch to catch prey and then returns to the perch to eat. Will even go to the ground to catch insects.
Habits and Breeding
Preferred habitat is open with come trees. Savannah and forest edges such as parks and roadsides. In swamps and marshes they are found around stumps and snags. In the fall, they will form large flocks while hunting for insects. | 
Eastern Kingbird |
Breeds from British Columbia across Canada and south into northern California and down to central Texas and the Gulf coast. Winters in the tropics.
Males establish territories of about 1 acre and patrol them in the morning and the evening. The mating
behavior includes both sexes doing a fluttering flight while calling to each other. The male will allow other males
into his territory, but not near his mate or nest. Eastern Kingbirds are noisy, conspicuous birds and will drive
larger birds from the nest area.
The nest is a large, bulky and untidy mass made of twigs, straw and twine lined with hair and small rootlets that is built by both sexes. It is usually placed on a horizontal limb from 2-60 feet up in a tree, often near the water. The 3-5 white spotted eggs are incubated by the female for 14-16 days. The young fledge at 14-17 days. Female may act aggressively toward her mate during the incubation if she thinks he is too close to the nest. Both adults feed the young. May nest in the same tree as other species.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, and Peterson's Guide to the Birds of Eastern and Central North America.
Appearance
8-9 inches in length. Bright yellow belly and coverts. Tail is reddish-brown. Lower mandible is yellow at base with the throat darker grey. Brown or dark olive above. Crest is up when the bird is alarmed or curious. When being aggressive, red-brown feathers in wings and tail are displayed. The inner tertial has a broad contrasting edge when compared with the other two. More often is heard than seen.
Food
Flies from perches to catch flying insects, usually high in the trees. Eats some berries.
Habits and Breeding
Found in open forests and orchards in the eastern and central United States and from southern Canada south to the Gulf coast. The Great Crested Flycatcher winters in southern Florida and the tropics. It is the only crested flycatcher east of the Mississippi and the only eastern flycatcher to nest in holes. | 
Great Crested Flycatcher |
Nests in holes or boxes with openings of 1 ½ to 2 ½ inches in diameter which it lines with grass, fur, paper, etc. with snakeskins almost always present and often containing cellophane. It is not known why they use the snakeskins. They nest in abandoned woodpecker holes or in dead trees. Nest is bulky with the eggs in a small cupped area. The 5-6 yellowish or pinkish white eggs have darker marks and an oval shape. Incubation is 12-15 days and
done by the female. The young fledge at 14-21 days.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, and Peterson's Bird's Nests east of the
Mississippi.
Appearance
Length: 7 inches. Dull olive or gray-brown with no eye rings or wing bars. Wags it tail. Whitish below. After the late summer molt, the belly may be yellowish. The head is darker than the back, wings or tail. The pale olive descends to the sides and breast. Bill is dark.
The juvenile is browner than the adult with 2 buff colored wing bars and a cinnamon colored rump. This plumage coloration lasts for only a short time.
Food
Insects, berries in the winter. Flies from a perch to catch insects or picks them from the ground. | 
Eastern Phoebe |
Habits and Breeding
Rocky woodland, ravines, cliffs. Found in suburbs. Often nests under bridges, in eaves or in rafters. Prefers any shelf-like projection. Arrives early in the spring and leaves late in the fall. Sometimes stays in northern states through the winter. Breeds in Canada, US east of the Rockies and south to the northern edge of Gulf states. Winters from Virginia and the Gulf states southward. It is the only flycatcher to winter in the southeastern U.S.
The male defends territory of several acres. After the female arrives, most of the singing stops except for
early in the morning. The female builds the nest, sometimes a cluster of nests. Nests are made from mud and grass and lined with moss and hair. They are large and well constructed. When attached to a wall, they are semi-circular and are circular when placed on a shelf or ledge. Sometimes there will be several partial or completely built nests on long beams, possibly because the bird is disoriented.
The 4-5 eggs are smooth and white with little gloss and rarely spotted. A quarter or more of the phoebe nests have cowbirds in them. These nests are often deserted if the cowbird eggs are laid before the phoebe's. Until the eggs hatch, the female will chase away any male who comes near the nest. Both parents feed the young. Once the young leave the nest, in about 18 days, the female may start preparing for her second or third brood and the male may resume singing for a while.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, and Peterson's Bird's Nests east of the Mississippi
Appearance
6 inches in length. Olive green body with whitish, or sometimes yellow below on the sides and belly. Has a distinct yellow eye ring. The primary identifiers for the Acadian Flycatcher are its voice and habitat. The identifying call on the breeding ground is a 2-note "flee-see" or "peet-seet" where the second syllable is accented and higher pitched. This call is occasionally heard on migration. There are two buffy or whitish wing bars. The primary flight feathers have a long projection. The bill is long and broad-based with the lower mandible mostly yellowish in color. Most have a pale gray throat.
Food
Insects. | 
Acadian Flycatcher |
Habits and Breeding
Found in woodlands of beech, hemlock and maple, and in swamps. They often are found in wooded ravines.
Breeds from southern Minnesota east through southern New England and south to the Gulf Coast. Winters in the tropics. It is the only member of empidonax to nest in the southern United States.
The nest is a shallow bowl woven of plant fibers in a bush or tree, sometimes over a stream, usually in the lower branches far out from the trunk. It is built by the female. The most distinctive feature is the long streamers of grass that she places in the nest that often hang down from the sides and bottom.
The female lays 3 or 4 buff-colored eggs with brown spots in her nest and incubates them for 13-14 days. Sometimes the brown cowbird will parasite the nest and lay its eggs there.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, and Peterson's Bird's Nests east of the Mississippi
Appearance
6 inches, or house sparrow sized. Is also called a Traill's flycatcher, but so is the Willow Flycatcher (empidonax traillii) which looks identical to the Alder flycatcher. A relatively heavy-billed and broad-tailed bird. The back is olive-brown and the belly is pale yellow. Eye ring is faint or missing, sometimes is bolder on the Alder than on the Willow. The wing bars are a dull white. The call is a "rreebeet" or "rreebeea" with the accent on the second syllable.
Food
Feeds on insects caught by flying out from a low perch.
Habits and Breeding
Lives in alder thickets and shrubs at the edges of swamps, marshes and lakes, usually in second growth forest. The Willow Alder is found more often in trees and tends to be found farther south.
Breeds from the east across Canada to the Pacific. In the United States, it only breeds around the Great Lakes and in New England. Winters in the tropics.
Nest is a thick-walled, untidy-looking cup of plant material which usually has some strips dangling from the bottom. There are no feathers added to the construction. The female lays 3-4 whitish eggs with dark markings that she incubates for 12-13 days. The young leave the nest in 12 to 14 days.
The Alder Flycatcher was once thought to be the same as the Willow Flycatcher but was separated after research in the 1950's and 60's determined them different species.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, and Peterson's Bird's Nests east of the Mississippi
Appearance
8-9 inches. Olive-brown above and bright yellow below. Head is grey with the throat and upper breast a lighter grey. The wings are dusky and the tail is blackish with thin white edges. The tail has a squared end. There is a slight red crest on the head that is only raised when the bird is excited or agitated. The bill is short. The voice is a sharp cry of "kit".
Food
Eats mostly insects that it catches in midair, but also eats some berries.
Habits and Breeding
Found in open country around streams and ponds with some trees.
Breeds west of the Mississippi. Visits the east coast in the fall and winterts in the tropics, with some staying in Florida.
Nest is bulky and made of sticks lined with plant material. The nest is placed in either a tree or bush. The female lays 3 to 5 cream colored eggs that she incubates for 13 to 15 days. The young fledge at 16 to 18 days. Sometimes there will be more than one brood in a season.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, and Peterson's Bird's Nests east of the Mississippi.
Appearance
At 5-5 ¼ inches, the Least Flycatcher is the smallest member of its family. It is dull olive-gray above and whitish below. There are two conspicuous whitish wing bars and a bold eye ring.The breast is grey-washed while the belly is a pale yellow. As with most of the flycatchers, it is primarily distinguished by its voice, which is a dry, insect-like "che-BEC".
Food
Flies out from a perch to catch flying insects.
Habits and Breeding
The Least Flycatcher is widely spread over open country that has islands of trees for them to nest in.
They breed from the southern Yukon east to central Quebec and the Maritime Provinces of Canada south to Wyoming and New Jersey with a finger stretching down the Appalachian Mountains into North Carolina. They spend their winters in the tropics. | 
Least Flycatcher |
The males stake out a range, usually from two to four acres in size, and will chase other males from their territory. The female defends only a small area around her nest. During courtship, the male will chase the female. The nest is a cup-shaped bowl firmly wedged in a tree fork or crotch usually 10 or 20 feet up the tree. The nest is generally made of bark with weed stems and grass mixed in and then lined with softer material. Resembles the nest of the American Redstart or the Yellow Warbler. The female lays 3-4 creamy, non-glossy eggs which she incubates for 14 days. The male sometimes feeds the female during this period. The young are altrical and fledge in 12 to 16 days. The parents may have a second brood.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region, Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region, and Peterson's Bird's Nests east of the Mississippi.
Appearance
At 6 ½ inches, the Wood Peewee is larger than of the empidonax members of the family, but it shares their coloring. It is dull olive grey above and paler below with two witish wing bars. The eastern wood peewee is best distinguished from the western wood peewee by its call, a "pee-ah-weee" or "pee-wee". The male is more often heard than seen.
Food
Flies from a perch to catch insects.
Habits and Breeding
Mature forests and open woodlands such as orchards and parks.
Breeds from south central and south eastern Canada southwards to the Gulf of Mexico and central Florida. Winters in the tropics. In areas where both eastern and western wood peewees co-exist, there is no interbreeding.
The nest is built by the female out on a horizontal branch of either a live or dead tree. The nest is a shallow cup with thick walls. It is made of grasses, weed stems, hair, spider webs with an outside covering of lichens. From below it looks like a knot on the branch or a fungus. The female lays 3-4 creamy eggs with brown dots which she incubates for 12 to 13 days.
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds: Eastern Region and National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America.
| 
