Event Details

Tyrant Flycatchers are a large and diverse family with hundreds of species, most of them being found in the Neotropics, particularly South America. Some 40 species of Tyrant Flycatchers have occurred in western North America for which 23 species are regular breeders and more than 15 are of rare, casual or accidental occurrence. One could easily spend a half year studying the intricacies of these species. Our talk will focus on getting started, so an introduction of sorts, with a focus on learning the identifying and behavioral traits that separate the various genera that have occurred in the West. In short, if you can't tell a pewee (genus Contopus) from an Empidonax, you have no business identifying the various species of the notoriously difficult group of Empidonax. We will also review the status and distribution of each of the species discussed, the "When' and the "Where," things that can be learned before going into the field, or to repeat a famous quote of Pasteur: "Chance favors the prepared mind."