Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Olive-sided Flycatcher
 The olive-sided flycatcher has a large and diverse breeding range. They breed across Canada, Alaska, the western half of the United States and the northeastern United States. Here in Minnesota they breed in the northeast corner of the state but both of these birds were photographed in the south east part of the state. During the winter these birds migrate to parts of Central America and northern South America.
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Olive-sided flycatchers eat flying insects which they usually catch in flight. I watched this bird catch about a half dozen bees with in a few minutes. From his perch on the branch he would fly up into the air, looping around, and then return to his perch with a bee in his beak. Olive-sided flycatchers live in forested habitats. Burned areas are preferred habitat because there is usually plenty of burnt snags for them to hunt fromand not a lot of brush to get in their way while they hunt.


10 comments:

Karen said...

That may be a bit hard to swallow ;)

Dave said...

A pretty large flycatcher species by the looks of it, cheers for sharing.

theconstantwalker said...

What a beauty... great shots.

Reader Wil said...

I saw how they catch flies or other insects on TV. Very interesting.
Have a great week!
Wil,ABCW Team

photowannabe said...

Fantastic shot of the flycatcher with his prize.

Roger Owen Green said...

Almost looks like he's smiling!
ROG, ABC Wednesday team

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

The only flycather I have seen is the great crested flycatcher. They are wonderful to watch and very adept at catching insects. This is my first exposure to the Olive Sided Flycatcher ... a very busy little fellow. Thank you for the information, EB.

Andrea @ From The Sol

genie said...

How in the world can this fellow catch a half dozen bees like that? Amazing. And you got to see it That really IS amazing genie

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

HI Jeff Great to see these birds catching their prey. Do they beat it to death like Bee eaters do before they eat it?

Wanda said...

He's so much prettier than my "fly" catcher (flyswatter)HaHa