Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus)

Least Flycatcher [dorsal view of adult]. Photograph Credit: Rickey Shive; Pulliam Hollow, Metcalfe County, Kentucky; 7 October 2018.

Abundance: Very Uncommon; at least 42 Regional records in 13 counties, 4 in Kentucky and 9 in Tennessee (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the populations migrating through or breeding in the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Transient during spring (at least 20 records) and fall (at least 6 records); Summer Resident (at least 16 records); designated as an endangered breeding species by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (2004); photograph (see link below).

Regional High Count: 2 (many records below).

Information on Migration Records: 

5 or 6 May 1962 (1) Cumberland County, Tennessee (observer unspecified; Anonymous 1962a).

1 May 1983 (2) Barnes Hollow, Putnam County, Tennessee (Richard W. Simmers, Jr.; Stedman 1983c).

9 & 11 May 1984 (1) Barnes Hollow, Putnam County, Tennessee (Richard W. Simmers, Jr.; Stedman 1984c).

26 May 1986 (1—singing) South of Gainesboro, Jackson County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Damien J. Simbeck; Stedman 1986c).

17 September 1989 (1) Barnes Hollow, Putnam County, Tennessee (Richard W. Simmers, Jr.; Vogt 1990a).

16 September 1998 (?) ?, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

3 May 2000 (?) ?, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

12 May 2001 (1) Putnam County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman; Casteel 2001c), a Spring Bird Count record.

3 May 2002 (1) City Lake, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman).

19 May 2002 (1) Science Hill, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

26 August 2003 (1) Mt. Zion, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004a).

26 April 2004 (1) Barnes Hollow, Putnam County, Tennessee (Richard W. Simmers, Jr.).

5 May 2004 (1—singing) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Michael P. O'Rourke).

6 May 2004 (1—singing) Walnut Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Winston A. Walden).

23 May 2005 (1—singing) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman).

26 April 2006 (1—singing and seen) Science Hill, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

13 May 2006 (2) Pulaski County, Kentucky (fide Roseanna M. Denton), a Spring Bird Count record.

8 September 2006 (2) Casey Creek, Adair County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

25 September 2006 (1) Clifty Pond, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseana M. Denton photo).

10 May 2007 (1—singing) Peninsula Rd., Barren County, Kentucky (Stephen J. Stedman).

11 May 2007 (1) Fishing Creek, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

13 May 2007 (1) Mt. Zion, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

30 September/1 October 2007 (1—singing/1—calling) Leffle Webb Rd., Cumberland County, Tennessee (Edmund K. LeGrand).

6 May 2008 (1/1—singing) Holmes Bend Rd./Rt. 551 bridge over Green River Lake, Adair County, Kentucky (Barbara H. Stedman/Roseanna M. Denton), a Spring BirdBlitz record.

8 May 2008 (1) Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

10 May 2008 (2—singing) Upperman High School, Baxter, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Carol D. Williams, Susan E. Pirolo), a Spring Bird Count record.

Information on Breeding Season Records: 

Summer 1973 (number unspecified) DeKalb County, Tennessee (Herbert E. Shadowen; Shadowen 1978).

2 June 1979 (1) c. 10 km southeast of Sharp Place on Rt. 2451, Fentress County, Tennessee (Glen King, Charles P. Nicholson; Nicholson 1981).

4 June 1979 (1) Intersection of Rt. 2451 and Rt. 154 at Sharp Place, Fentress County, Tennessee (Holly Overton, Polly Ryder; Nicholson 1981).

1 June 1985 (1—singing) Smokey Junction BBS, Scott County, Tennessee (Charles P. Nicholson; Dubke and Dubke 1985b), a Breeding Bird Survey record.

June 1986 (1) Smokey Junction BBS, Scott County, Tennessee (Charles P. Nicholson), a Breeding Bird Survey record.

7 June 1987 (2) Smokey Junction BBS, Scott County, Tennessee (Charles P. Nicholson; Knight 1987d), a Breeding Bird Survey record.

20–21 June 1987 (1) Northern Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Richard L. Knight, Charles P. Nicholson; Knight 1987d).

12 June 1988 (1—singing) in an old orchard along the Calfkiller River, southeastern Putnam County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman; Knight 1988d; Stedman 1993).

June 1989 (1) Smokey Junction BBS, Scott County, Tennessee (Charles P. Nicholson), a Breeding Bird Survey record.

June 1990 (1) Smokey Junction BBS, Scott County, Tennessee (Charles P. Nicholson), a Breeding Bird Survey record.

4 June 2000 (1) Hinch Mountain, Cumberland County, Tennessee (Debbie Shannon, Roi Shannon; Knight 2000d).

2 June 2002 (2—singing) Frozen Head State Natural Area, Morgan County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Knight 2002d).

28 May/5 June 2005 (1—singing/ 1—singing) near Tub Spring, Frozen Head State Natural Area, Morgan County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Joseph E. Mast/Stephen J. Stedman).

1 June 2006 (1—singing) Acorn vicinity, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton).

8 June 2011 (1—singing) eastern Putnam County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman), a Putnam County Foray record.

14 June 2011  (1—singing) northwestern Van Buren County, Tennessee (Barbara H. Stedman), a Van Buren County Foray record.

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Spring: 26 April 2004 (Putnam County, Tennessee; Richard W. Simmers, Jr.) and 26 April 2006 (Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton).

    Late Fall: 1 October 2007 (Cumberland County, Tennessee; Edmund K. LeGrand).

    Note: The extreme dates are provided as for Summer Residents. Spring migrants have mainly appeared from 1 May and 15 May; fall migrants mainly from 1 September to 25 September.

Breeding: Probable (Recent; see Foray Results [below]).  No confirmed evidence has yet been reported, but this circumstance results primarily from the species' scarcity as a breeder and secondarily from lack of effort to discover breeding evidence during the few encounters when such evidence might have been obtained.

Habitat: Potential breeding birds have been found in a variety of habitats.  The bird in Bledsoe County, Tennessee, 20–21 June 1987 inhabited a grove of red cedars (Knight 1987d).  The bird in Jackson County, Tennessee, 26 May 1986 inhabited a small orchard (Stedman 1986c).  The two birds in Frozen Head State Natural Area, Morgan County, Tennessee, 2 June 2002 inhabited a mature deciduous forest with a fairly open understory (Stephen J. Stedman, pers. ob.). During migration this species may be found in an even wider range of habitats.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

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.

    Two possibly breeding Least were detected during the 1979 TOS Foray in Fentress County (Nicholson 1981); a probably breeding Least was detected during the 1987 TOS Foray/Breeding Bird Atlas project in Bledsoe County (Nicholson 1997).

Remarks: The elevation where Least Flycatchers have been observed during the month of June in the Region varies greatly, ranging from a low elevation of 292 m (960 ft) in Bledsoe County, Tennessee (Knight 1987d), to a high elevation of at least 914 m (3000 ft) in Morgan County, Tennessee (Knight 2002d).

    The registration of this scarce and retiring species five times during early June in the late 1980s and early 1990s on the Smokey Junction Breeding Bird Survey route in Scott County, Tennessee, is of particular interest, suggesting that it might be a semi-regular, if scarce, breeder at favored sites in that county and perhaps around the Region.

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