Olive-sided Flycatcher

NT - Near Threatened

N4B - Apparently Secure Breeding

SNRB - Unranked Breeding

not listed

Species in Greatest Conservation Need

Olive-sided Flycatcher is a medium-sized tyrant flycatcher (family Tyrannidae) but a large “flycatcher” as that common name is applied. Only Great-crested flycatcher is larger.

Adults have a tapered body, are 7″ to 8″ in length, and have a wingspan of 13″. The upper parts are olive-gray to olive-brown. The center of the breast is white and contrasts sharply with dark, olive-gray, streaked or mottled sides, giving the appearance of a dark “vest”. The belly is whitish. The undertail coverts are whitish with well-defined, dark, V-shaped markings. The wings are pointed and have indistinct pale wing bars. The tail is proportionately short. There is a white patch above each wing on the side of the rump but this is not usually visible when perched.

The head is large and dark. The chin and throat are white. The eye ring is inconspicuous.

7″ to 8″ in length

13″ wingspan

The song is one short note followed quickly by two longer longer notes, the middle note higher pitched: “quick, THREE beers!” The call is three quick notes: “pip pip pip.”

Breeding: Coniferous forest edges and openings, semi-open coniferous forests near water, burned areas, wetlands.

Early May to Mid June and early August to late September. They migrate alone, not in flocks.

Olive-sided Flycatcher has the longest migration of any North American flycatcher. Breeding grounds are the Rocky and Cascade Mountains from Texas to Alaska, across Canada and the northern border states to Newfoundland and Vermont. In Minnesota the breeding range includes the northeast third of the state. Wintering grounds are mostly Panama and the northern Andes Mountains from northern Venezuela to western Bolivia.

The nest is an open cup constructed on a high horizontal branch of a conifer tree well away from the trunk. It is made of twigs, grasses, and sometimes beard lichens, bound together with spider silk, and lined with finer plant materials. The female lays 3 or 4 eggs in June or July. The eggs are white, buff, or pink, and are spotted with brown or gray blotches at the large end. They hatch in 14 to 19 days. Both parents feed the young. The young leave the nest in 15 to 23 days

Olive-sided Flycatcher is the only North American flycatcher to feed exclusively on insects caught in flight. When feeding it perches at the top of a tree or on a dead branch, launching occasionally to catch a flying insect in the air, and returning often to the same perch. Small insects are consumed in the air. Larger insects returned to and beaten against the perch to subdue.

They defend their nests aggressively against squirrels and other predators.

Flying insects, especially bees, wasps, and ants, but also moths, grasshoppers, dragonflies, and beetles.

Uncommon migrant and breeder

The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map

Location: Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, Coldwater Spring