Pacific-slope Flycatcher Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Small flycatcher (about 14-15 cm) with olive-brown to greenish-brown upperparts and a notable yellowish wash on the throat, breast, and belly — more extensive yellow than most other Empidonax flycatchers.
• Pale, almond- or teardrop-shaped eye-ring that appears peaked or angled behind the eye, rather than a simple round ring.
• Two whitish to buffy wing bars on otherwise dark wings.
• Bill is blackish above with a pale orange or yellowish lower mandible.
• Upright posture typical of flycatchers, often flicking wings and tail while perched.

Similar Species

• Cordilleran Flycatcher: essentially identical in plumage; the two were formerly treated as a single species ("Western Flycatcher"). They are best separated by voice and range — Cordilleran breeds in the Rocky Mountains and interior ranges, Pacific-slope along the Pacific coast and coastal mountains — with a zone of overlap/ambiguity in parts of the interior where visual identification alone is unreliable.
• Other Empidonax (e.g., Least Flycatcher, Hammond's Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher): generally grayer and less yellow overall, with different eye-ring shapes and habitat preferences; voice remains the most reliable way to confirm identification among Empidonax species.

Habitat, Range & Season

• Breeds in shady, moist coniferous and mixed forest, wooded canyons, and ravines near water from southeastern Alaska south through coastal British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California.
• Winters primarily in Mexico.
• Often found in shadier, denser forest than more open-country flycatchers.

Voice

• Call is a sharp, rising "psweet" or "suweet."
• Song is a series of thin, high-pitched notes, often rendered as "psit ... psit ... pseet."
• Voice is the most reliable way to distinguish this species from the very similar Cordilleran Flycatcher, whose call is subtly sharper and more emphatic.

Behavior Notes

• Sits upright on a perch and sallies out to catch flying insects, often returning to the same or a nearby perch.
• Frequently flicks its wings and tail while perched, a common Empidonax behavior.