Scientific Name:   Empidonax traillii

Length:   5.1-6.7 in (13-17 cm)

Weight:   0.4-0.6 oz (11-16 g)

Wingspan:   7.5-9.4 in (19-24 cm)

Nest:   Most nests are in willow, but also nest in box elder, dogwood, hawthorn, bracken fern, and tamarisk. The nest is about 2–5 feet above the ground, and often has strips of plant material dangling from the bottom. In some regions, Brown-headed Cowbirds often lay their eggs in nests of this species. The placement is in a vertical or diagonal fork of a branch, or on top of a horizontal branch.

Eggs:   3-4. Pale buff to whitish, with brown spots concentrated toward larger end. Incubation is by female, 12-15 days.

Feeding Behavior:   They eat bees, wasps, ants, beetles, damselflies, butterflies, moths, and flies. In the fall they occasionally eat blackberries, raspberries, currants, and dogwood berries. They wait on a perch near the top of a shrub and fly out to catch insects in flight, also sometimes picking insects from foliage while hovering.

Young:   Both parents bring food for nestlings. Age of young at first flight about 12-14 days.

Range:   These birds migrate to Mexico and Central America, and in small numbers as far south as Ecuador in South America, often selecting winter habitat near water. Willow flycatchers travel approximately 930–4,970 miles each way between wintering and breeding areas. In Mexico and northern Central America, they use scrubby fields and woodlands from sea level to about 8,000 feet elevation.

Brief Description:   Adults have brown-olive upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have an indistinct white eye ring, white wing bars and a small bill. The breast is washed with olive-gray. The upper part of the bill is gray; the lower part is orangish.