Female Willow Flycatcher nesting alone?

[Joel Geier]

This afternoon I noticed an Empidonax flycatcher perched silently at the edge of our yard. It was apparently a Willow Fycatcher, based on minimal eye ring and a clean white throat (leaving aside the unlikely though not impossible idea of a vagrant Alder Flycatcher).

After catching and gobbling up a winged insect (cranefly?), the bird started gathering up bits of dead grass / thatch in its bill.

It made a couple of trips into a dense thicket of hawthorns (native black "Douglas" hawthorns or possibly hybrids -- I try to keep our place clear of the invasive English hawthorns) with shrubby undergrowth. Each time it came back with an empty bill, and resumed gathering nesting material. So I presume this is a female, working on a nest in that thicket.

But here's the odd thing: I haven't heard the sneezy "song" of a male Willow Flycatcher within earshot of our yard, so far this year. I've heard a couple elsewhere around the neighborhood, but not here.

With other songbird species, it's not uncommon that a female might choose a nest location that's outside of the singing territory of the nearest male. Whatever criteria the males are going by when they stake out a territory, females clearly have their own criteria as to what makes a good nesting location! For species where the male plays a role in caring for the young, such as Vesper Sparrows, it seems that once paired with a nesting female, the males will make an adjustment.

But in this case, there hasn't been a male Willow Flycatcher singing even within 200 yards. Does the female know of one hanging around that's been mostly silent? Or is she just proceeding with nest-building, with an expectation that a male is bound to show up in this habitat?

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Joel Geier

Tampico Ridge north of Corvallis

[Paul, Judith L]

Fascinating, Joel.  Keep us posted!

—judith Paul

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From: mid-vall...@googlegroups.com <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Joel Geier <clear...@peak.org>
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2026 6:15:48 PM
To: Oregon Birders OnLine <ob...@freelists.org>; Mid-Valley Nature <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [MidValleyNature:8023] Female Willow Flycatcher nesting alone?

 

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