Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens)

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Abundance: Fairly Common during late spring, summer, and early fall; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); the Regional breeding population is probably stable (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident; specimen (9&10 June 1938; Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky; W. M. Perrygo; Wetmore 1940).

Regional High Count: 128 (20 May 2012; Putnam County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman [see also Remarks {below}]); SBC/SBB High Count: 81 (12 May 2001; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.); FBC/FBB High Count: 11 (15 September 2007; Putnam County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: 18 April 1890 (Eubank, Pulaski County, Kentucky; Mengel 1965).

    Late Fall: 4 October 2008 (White County, Tennessee; Barbara H. Stedman).

    Note: Spring arrival usually widespread by 5 May; fall departure largely complete by 15 September.  Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for the years 2002–2011 follow:

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent).  Nests usually placed fairly low in subcanopy, often at heights of 3–6 m; nests often placed over open areas below, such as slow-moving streams and little-traveled roads, such as Station Camp Rd., over which the nest in this photograph was placed at a height of about 6 m (Stephen J. Stedman; Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Scott County, Tennessee; 6 June 2003).

Habitat: Mature, often mesic, woodlands with a fairly open subcanopy.  Population density often increases in riparian zones, as well as on the forested parts of the escarpments between the Cumberland Plateau and the Highland Rim and between the Highland Rim and the Central Basin.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 3 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 14 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, leading to YardWatch frequency classifications of Rare and Uncommon, respectively; each of these frequency classifications indicates that the Acadian is less likely to be encountered in Regional yards and neighborhoods than in the Region as a whole.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: The early spring arrival date from the late Nineteenth Century at Eubank, Pulaski County, Kentucky, is strikingly earlier than nearly all modern spring arrival dates (Mengel 1965); Mengel further cites a source by W. W. Cook giving the average arrival date at Eubank for six (unspecified) years as April 23, also earlier than the average arrival date (c. 28 April) for the first decade of the Twenty-First Century (see Regional Extreme Dates [above]).  The average date of spring arrival of this flycatcher now appears to take place about five days later than was the case during the late Nineteenth Century; no explanation for this difference seems available.

    The High Count was obtained along a driving transect of 82 km (50 mi) traversing many roads on the escarpment between the Highland Rim and the Central Basin in western Putnam County, Tennessee; counts of 54–104 singing males were obtained along this transect during late May of the following years: 2004–2011.  In the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, this species is the most common flycatcher; its population is most dense along the main river and its larger tributaries (Stedman and Stedman 2002).

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited