Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
THE FREE-TOED PERCHING BIRDS
THE TYRANT-BIRDS
American Flycatchers
Another large genus represented in North America is Empidonax, which embraces over thirty forms, all being small birds, under six inches in length, plain brownish, grayish, or olive above, the wings with two lighter bands, and whitish, yellowish, or buff below. They are mostly unobtrusive woodland birds of quiet ways and gentle manner, building an artistic nest on the ground, or more frequently in the crotch of a bush or low tree. The Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (E. ftaviventris), Acadian Flycatcher (E. virescens), and the Least Flycatcher, or Chebec (E. minimus), are examples.
Similar to these, but of larger size and having a relatively longer wing and shorter tarsi, are the members of the genus Myiochanes (Contopus), of which a dozen or more forms are recognized. The Wood Pewee (M. virens) and Olive-sided Flycatcher (Nuttallornis borealis) are well-known species of the eastern United States.