Identifying Costa Rican FLYCATCHERS | Part III: Empidonax Flycatchers in Costa Rica

Struggling to identify flycatchers? We all are! In the final video of our series, we have a look at the fiendish Empidonax flycatchers.
⏰ Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:58 Field Marks & Empidonax ID
2:42 Least Flycatcher
3:24 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
3:58 White-throated Flycatcher
4:40 Acadian Flycatcher
5:22 Alder & Willow Flycatchers
6:29 Yellowish & Black-capped Flycatchers
7:28 Outro
Especially for birders unfamiliar with New World Flycatchers, this large family of birds can cause some serious headaches. Is the bird in the tree a White-ringed Flycatcher or "just" a Social Flycatcher? How can I tell apart the Pewees? And is there ANY way to distinguish those pesky Empidonax flycatchers?
I've had these questions many times - and I'm seriously hoping that I can't be the only one. So, let's have a look at Costa Rica's flycatchers together and let's see if we can find a way to make our lives a little bit easier.
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/ @jabirustories
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📝 Attributions:
Eastern Wood-Pewee:
Image by Félix Uribe from Rionegro, Antioquia, Colombia, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Least Flycatcher:
Images by Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons, and
User:Mdf, CC BY-SA 3.0, both via Wikimedia Commons
Audio by Alán Palacios, XC686082. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/686082
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher:
Images by Dominic Sherony, CC BY-SA 2.0, and
TonyCastro, CC BY 4.0, both via Wikimedia Commons
Audio by Johan Chaves, XC557142. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/557142.
White-throated Flycatcher:
Images by Daniel Germer, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.com
Audio by Andrew Spencer, XC127728. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/127728.
Acadian Flycatcher:
Images by Aitor, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons,
Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.com,
Félix Uribe, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Flickr.com
Audio by Jerome Fischer, XC533945. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/533945.
Alder & Willow Flycatchers:
Images by Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0, and
Andrew Weitzel from Lancaster, PA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, both via Wikimedia Commons
Audio by Sjoerd Mayer, XC2628. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/2628 and Jonathon Jongsma, XC143633. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/143633
Yellowish & Black-capped Flycatchers:
Images by Cephas, CC BY-SA 4.0, and
Chris Jimenez from CR, CC BY-SA 2.0, both via Wikimedia Commons
Audio by Peter Boesman (both), XC880096, accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/880096, and XC274033. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/274033.
Visualization of the migrations is taken from eBird:
ebird.org/science/status-and-...
Fink, D., T. Auer, A. Johnston, M. Strimas-Mackey, S. Ligocki, O. Robinson, W. Hochachka, L. Jaromczyk, C. Crowley, K. Dunham, A. Stillman, I. Davies, A. Rodewald, V. Ruiz-Gutierrez, C. Wood. 2023. eBird Status and Trends, Data Version: 2022; Released: 2023. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. doi.org/10.2173/ebirdst.2022
This video is published under a Creative Commons License to comply with the SA attribution of some of the media we have used. Note that the intro and the soundtrack contain licensed material. Reach out to me for more information.
📝 Cornell Lab of Ornithology Disclaimer:
This material uses data from the eBird Status and Trends Project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, eBird.org. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

[@kristianadolfsson]

Another tricky group! Thanks.

[@jabirustories]

Thanks! I'm still really struggling with them. Well, now I need to find some empids to see if it helped ;)

[@zerok847]

Thanks Tim for the video

[@jabirustories]

You're very welcome! Thanks for stopping by :)

[@dirkswildworld]

Great video, but...oh dear, the Flycatchers...or as we call them: LBB's...Little Brown Birds, when it comes to birding in CR 😂😂😂

[@jabirustories]

Oh, yes... I've found that some times the best cure is to just look at some other birds :D

[@maricelsegura6238]

Thanks a lot!! Now a lot more clear for me with those identification tips. Pura Vida!🪶💚

[@jabirustories]

Thanks so much :) These ID videos are a lot of fun to make!