Western Flycatcher Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song (Pacific-slope)
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Alaska, May 29, 2013Recorded by Gregory Budney / Macaulay Library
Calls (Pacific-slope)
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California, June 29, 2019Recorded by Bruce Rideout / Macaulay Library
Calls (Pacific-slope)
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California, April 14, 1954Recorded by William R. Fish / Macaulay Library
Calls (Pacific-slope)
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Alaska, May 30, 2013Recorded by Gregory Budney / Macaulay Library
Song (Cordilleran)
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Arizona, June 06, 2009Recorded by Andrew Spencer / Macaulay Library
Calls (Cordilleran)
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Colorado, May 31, 2012Recorded by Andrew Spencer / Macaulay Library
Calls (Cordilleran)
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Colorado, June 20, 2008Recorded by Nathan Pieplow
Calls (Cordilleran)
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Colorado, June 18, 2008Recorded by Nathan Pieplow
Calls (Cordilleran)
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Colorado, May 31, 2012Recorded by Andrew Spencer / Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

“Cordilleran” males sing a high-pitched, three-part pseee tsdup tseet! The notes are separated by pauses, with the first note sweet, the second notably lower, and the third incisive and higher in pitch. “Pacific-slope” males sing a high-pitched, three-part ps-SEET ptsick tseet! The male songs of the two groups are similar enough that it takes a practiced ear to distinguish the two.

Calls

The most commonly heard “Cordilleran” call is the male’s sweet, upslurred wee-SEET! (or pit-PEET!). This so-called “male position note” call has two components or syllables, whereas “Pacific-slope” male position note sounds more like a single syllable, peeWEET! To perceive the subtle differences between the two groups’ songs and calls, it is helpful to have a spectrogram of a recording. Females of both groups give a high-pitched, short, sibilant tsip call.