June 28, 2009 - Furtive Flycatcher

Welcome to the Nature Notebook.

The loud, raucous call of the Great Crested Flycatcher will alert you to its presence. Or perhaps you catch a flash of reddish-brown wings and tail or yellow belly through the foliage. Watch closely and you might see the bird sally forth from its treetop perch to snatch an insect from the air. As its name implies, flycatchers do eat flies. They also snack on bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, beetles, grasshoppers and crickets. The other part this flycatcher’s name stems from the common habit of raising its crown feathers into a crest when excited. By now these birds should be nesting. They prefer cavities in dead trees, choosing old woodpecker holes or natural ones. Those Whee-eep calls indicate a male Great Crested Flycatcher defending its territory around the nest site.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.