Pacific-slope flycatcher
# Pacific-slope flycatcher

The Pacific-slope flycatcher is a small insectivorous bird group of the family Tyrannidae. It is native to coastal regions of western North America, including the Pacific Ocean and the southern Gulf of California, as far north as British Columbia and southern Alaska, but is replaced in the inland regions by the Cordilleran flycatcher. These two species were classified as a single species, commonly called the western flycatcher, by the American Ornithologists’ Union until 1989. In summer 2023 the AOS (American Ornithological Society) lumped the two species once more into western flycatcher. In winter, both groups migrate south to Mexico, where they are virtually indistinguishable from one another.

## Description

In plumage, the Pacific-slope flycatcher is virtually identical to the Cordilleran flycatcher, and differs only subtly from most Empidonax flycatchers in North America, but its breeding habitat and call are different. Its call can vary slightly by different regions and the bird itself.

## Subspecies

Pacific-slope "difficilis" group:

* E. d. difficilis, from southeastern Alaska south to the Sierra San Pedro Mártir of Baja California, Mexico
* E. d. insulicola, the Channel Islands of southern California
* E. d. cineritius, mountains of southern Baja California Sur,

Mexico

## Habitat

The Pacific-slope flycatcher inhabits either coniferous or deciduous forests. In its range it enters mixed woods, Douglas fir forests, redwood forests, and many other wooded environments including riparian woodlands. As of November 2019, there has been one case of these West Coast birds showing up on the East Coast, in Palmyra, New Jersey.

## Diet

As a flycatcher it will wait on a perch and when it sees a flying insect it will chase it without any apparent effort. They also enter swarms of gnats, mosquitos and wherever such insects congregate. They fulfill an important role in keeping insect populations in check, particularly mosquitoes, and they also eat caterpillars and spiders.

