They often use riparian habitats, such as streams, wooded ravines, and river bottoms. This is the only member of the confusing Empidonax group to nest in most parts of the deep south.
It stretches as far north as southern Minnesota and east across the lower Great Lakes states to southern New England. Timing and Routes of Migration. Critical habitat for both the Acadian Flycatcher and the Hooded Warbler is identified within this recovery strategy. Migration Overview. Habitat in Breeding Range. Best distinguished from other flycatchers by habitat and voice.
Winters in the tropics in woodland or along its edges. Acadian Flycatchers use relatively undisturbed mature forest both on their breeding and wintering grounds.
... Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens), version 1.0. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. It breeds in areas of moist, older forest with dense canopy cover (>75%) and often near ravines and stream gorges (Mossman and Lange 1982).
Movements and Migration. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Broad strategies to be taken to address the threats to the survival and recovery of these species are presented in the section on Strategic Direction for Recovery. It occurs primarily in mature forests, often near small streams, and is considered area-sensitive because it is found only in relatively large habitat patches. They are essentially identical in looks, but their voices are different. Birds near the northern end of range prefer shaded ravines with mix of hemlocks and deciduous trees; farther south, found in mature deciduous forests. Acadian flycatchers breed across the eastern United States and southwestern Ontario. It also is listed as Endangered provincially and is protected under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007. Often nests in beech trees where they occur. They are sensitive to forest fragmentation and are more likely to occur in larger woodlots. Acadian Flycatcher Species Guidance 3 of 7 PUB ER-685 (last updated October 8, 2018) Habitat: The Acadian Flycatcher has highly specialized habitat requirements. Schorger (1927), writing of conditions in Wisconsin, says, "The essential requirement of the Acadian Flycatcher appears to be a large tract of undisturbed timber. In southern woods in summer, the short explosive song of the Acadian Flycatcher comes from shady spots along streams or near swamps. In Canada, the breeding range of the Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) and the Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina) is limited to southern Ontario. The Acadian Flycatcher is listed as Endangered federally and appears on Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act. The Acadian flycatcher breeds in deciduous forests of the eastern United States and southern Canada. The typical habitat is a deep, well-wooded ravine having a rocky stream bed, which is usually dry. Habitat in Nonbreeding Range. North American Breeding Distribution and Relative Abundance: A breeding resident of the eastern deciduous forest, the Acadian Flycatcher’s range extends from the eastern edge of the Great Plains to the Atlantic Coast. These birds migrate through eastern Mexico and the Caribbean to southern Central America and the very northwest of South America in Colombia, western Venezuela, and Ecuador. Until the 1970s, this bird and the Alder Flycatcher masqueraded as just one species under the name "Traill's Flycatcher."