Hammond's Flycatcher

Empidonax hammondii

Morphology 3

E. hammondii on average range in height from 12.7-14.0 cm long. The male length is 14.0-14.6 cm with a wing size of 6.6-7.1 cm, a tail size of 5.8-6.4 cm, and a bill size of 1.3-1.5 cm. The female length is 13.3 cm with a wing size of 6.2-7.0 cm and a tail size of 5.5-6.1 cm. As youths, these birds are brownish colored with yellowish-brown wing bars. As adults, E. hammondii have grayish upper parts, whitish or yellowish wing bars, grayish throat, and a dark colored breast (Bailey 1920; Reader's Digest 1990).

Habitat 4

E. hammondii lives mostly in mature mountain forests. Large dense-canopy and open-understory forests are vital for this species to thrive (The Nature Conservancy 1999; Reader's Digest 1990).

Trophic strategy 5

Flies out from a perch, usually high in tree, to catch insects in the air. Will hover-glean in early stages of breeding season, later switching to flycatching and gleaning from woody substrates, probably related to prey availability (Sakai and Noon 1990). Eats caterpillars, butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, bees and wasps (Terres 1980, Sedgwick 1994). In a Colorado study, Coleoptera and Lepidoptera greatest proportion of diet by dry weight, followed by Diptera and Hymenoptera (Beaver and Baldwin 1975).

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Pablo Lèautaud, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/98478281@N00/3216225747
  2. (c) Pablo Leautaud, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/pleautaud/3217080568/
  3. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31392609
  4. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31392608
  5. (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28824823

More Info

Range Map

iNaturalist.ca Map

Animal Bird
Bird Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Color grey