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Home/Species/ Alder Flycatcher

Empidonax alnorum

Brewster, 1895

Alder Flycatcher

G5Secure Found in 17 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104821
Element CodeABPAE33030
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassAves
OrderPasseriformes
FamilyTyrannidae
GenusEmpidonax
Other Common Names
alder flycatcher (EN) Maria-Fibui, Papa-Moscas-Fibiu (PT) Mosquero Ailero, Mosqueta Boreal (ES) Moucherolle des aulnes (FR)
Concept Reference
American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in The Auk]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
Taxonomic Comments
Formerly regarded as a single species, E. traillii (Traill's Flycatcher), conspecific withE. traillii (Willow Flycatcher) (AOU 1983, 1998).
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-07
Change Date1996-12-02
Range Extent Comments
BREEDING: central Alaska and Yukon east across central Canada to southern Labrador and Newfoundland, south to southern British Columbia, northern North Dakota, Great Lakes region, Pennsylvania, southeastern New York, and northern Massachusetts; in Appalachians to southwestern Virginia, northeastern Tennessee, and northwestern North Carolina (Lowther 1999). NON-BREEDING: East base of Andes from central Colombia to Bolivia; possibly northern Argentina (Stiles and Skutch 1989, Lowther 1999).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Brushy and scrubby growth, thickets, deciduous forest edge, open second growth, and swamps. Nonbreeding: also woodland, but migrants seldom enter tall shady second growth or woodland (Stiles and Skutch 1989). Nests in damp thickets of alder and various shrubs, in bogs, along marshy borders of lakes, and in brush along stream banks, less than 2 m above ground (Harrison 1979).

Reproduction

Clutch size is 3-4. Incubation, by female, lasts 12-14 days. Young leave nest at 13-14 days.
Terrestrial Habitats
Shrubland/chaparralOld field
Palustrine Habitats
SCRUB-SHRUB WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDBog/fenRiparian
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5B
ProvinceRankNative
GeorgiaSNRNYes
South CarolinaSNAYes
VermontS5BYes
NebraskaSNRNYes
LouisianaSNAYes
South DakotaSNAYes
MissouriSNAYes
IowaS3NYes
West VirginiaS3BYes
KentuckySNAYes
North DakotaSUYes
IndianaS2BYes
ArkansasSNAYes
AlabamaSNAYes
New JerseyS4B,S4NYes
VirginiaS1BYes
District of ColumbiaS1NYes
IllinoisS2Yes
MississippiSNAYes
DelawareSNAYes
New HampshireS5BYes
North CarolinaS2BYes
TennesseeS1Yes
MichiganS5Yes
KansasSNAYes
TexasS4Yes
MassachusettsS4BYes
AlaskaS5BYes
WisconsinS4BYes
MaineS4BYes
OhioS3Yes
FloridaSNAYes
MarylandS2BYes
ColoradoSNAYes
PennsylvaniaS5B,S4MYes
ConnecticutS3BYes
New YorkS5BYes
MinnesotaSNRBYes
OklahomaS2NYes
MontanaS3BYes
CanadaN5B
ProvinceRankNative
ManitobaS5BYes
Island of NewfoundlandS4B,SUMYes
QuebecS5BYes
LabradorS4B,SUMYes
AlbertaS4BYes
Nova ScotiaS5BYes
SaskatchewanS5BYes
OntarioS5BYes
Prince Edward IslandS5BYes
Northwest TerritoriesS5Yes
Yukon TerritoryS5BYes
New BrunswickS5BYes
British ColumbiaS5BYes
NunavutSUBYes
Roadless Areas (17)
Alaska (12)
AreaForestAcres
Bering LakeChugach National Forest965,076
Boston BarChugach National Forest53,617
Copper River WetlandsChugach National Forest85,972
Hoonah SoundTongass National Forest79,764
HyderTongass National Forest121,723
Johnson PassChugach National Forest152,508
Kenai LakeChugach National Forest213,172
Kenai MountainsChugach National Forest306,600
Nellie JuanChugach National Forest713,697
ResurrectionChugach National Forest224,615
Roaded DonutChugach National Forest968
Sheridan GlacierChugach National Forest224,683
New Hampshire (2)
AreaForestAcres
Pemigewasset ExtWhite Mountain National Forest15,840
Sandwich RangeWhite Mountain National Forest16,797
North Carolina (1)
AreaForestAcres
Graveyard Ridge (addition)Pisgah National Forest1,958
Virginia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Oak KnobGeorge Washington National Forest10,882
West Virginia (1)
AreaForestAcres
Dry River (WV)George Washington National Forest7,331
References (26)
  1. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1983. Check-list of North American Birds, 6th edition. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas. 877 pp.
  2. American Ornithologists' Union (AOU). 1998. Check-list of North American birds. Seventh edition. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C. [as modified by subsequent supplements and corrections published in <i>The Auk</i>]. Also available online: http://www.aou.org/.
  3. Balda, R. P., and G. C. Bateman. 1971. Flocking and annual cycle of the piñon jay, <i>Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</i>. Condor 73:287-302.
  4. Bent, A.C. 1942. Life histories of North American flycatchers, larks, swallows, and their allies. U.S. National Museum Bulletin 179. Washington, DC.
  5. BirdLife International. 2004b. Threatened birds of the world 2004. CD ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
  6. Droege, S., and J.R. Sauer. 1990. North American Breeding Bird Survey, annual summary, 1989. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Biological Report 90(8). 22 pp.
  7. Harrison, C. 1978. A Field Guide to the Nests, Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. Collins, Cleveland, Ohio.
  8. Harrison, H. H. 1979. A field guide to western birds' nests. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 279 pp.
  9. Horn, H. S. 1968. The adaptive significance of colonial nesting in the Brewer's Blackbird. Ecology 49:682-694.
  10. Howell, S. N. G., and S. Webb. 1995. A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
  11. Keast, A., and E.S. Morton. 1980. Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
  12. Ligon, J. D. 1971. Late summer-autumnal breeding of the piñon jay in New Mexico. Condor 73:147-153.
  13. Lowther, P.E. 1999. Alder Flycatcher (EMPIDONAX ALNORUM). In A. Poole and F. Gill, editors, The Birds of North America, No. 446. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 20 pp.
  14. Moore, W. S., and R. A. Dolbeer. 1989. The use of banding recovery data to estimate dispersal rates and gene flow in avian species: case studies in the Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle. Condor 91:242-253.
  15. Parker III, T. A., D. F. Stotz, and J. W. Fitzpatrick. 1996. Ecological and distributional databases for neotropical birds. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
  16. Ridgely, R. S. 2002. Distribution maps of South American birds. Unpublished.
  17. Ridgely, R. S. and J. A. Gwynne, Jr. 1989. A Guide to the Birds of Panama. 2nd edition. Princeton University Press, Princeton, USA.
  18. Sibley, D. A. 2000a. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  19. Stiles, F. G. and A. F. Skutch. 1989. A guide to the birds of Costa Rica. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, USA. 511 pp.
  20. Tarvin, K. A., and G. E. Woolfenden. 1999. Blue Jay (<i>Cyanocitta cristata</i>). No. 469 IN A. Poole and F. Gill, editors. The birds of North America. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. 32pp.
  21. Terres, J. K. 1980. The Audubon Society encyclopedia of North American birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
  22. Thompson, F. R., III. 1994. Temporal and spatial patterns of breeding brown-headed cowbirds in the midwestern United States. Auk 111:979-990.
  23. Williams, L. 1952b. Breeding behavior of the Brewer blackbird. Condor 54:3-47.
  24. Willson, M. F. 1966. Breeding ecology of the Yellow-headed Blackbird. Ecological Monographs 36:51-77.
  25. Winkler, K. 1994. Divergence in the mitochondrial DNA of EMPIDONAX TRAILLII and E. ALNORUM, with notes on hybridization. Auk 111:710-713.
  26. Zook, J. L. 2002. Distribution maps of the birds of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Unpublished.