 Breeding evidence |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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1.68 (1.02 - 2.38)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Saskatchewan's first record of Western Flycatcher was reported by James Telford and Elena F. on 4 and 5 July 2020, in the West Block of the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. Attracting attention from the birding community was a nest containing young found on 10 July 2020. A pair was present in the area in 2021 but was not confirmed breeding that year. Post Atlas, breeding has been confirmed in the same general location in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Initially reported as a Cordilleran Flycatcher before the official lumping with Pacific-slope Flycatcher into Western Flycatcher, audio recordings made by several observers exhibited characteristics of both species.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
Recently discovered breeding in the Cypress Hills (4 July 2020) Western Flycatcher is a new addition to the breeding birds of Saskatchewan. Split into Cordilleran Flatcher and Pacific-slope Flatcher in 1989, the two species were re-lumped as Western Flycatcher based on recent evidence of "extensive hybridization and lack of consistent vocal, genomic, or morphological differentiation in a broad contact zone? in 2023 (Chesser et al 2023). Breeds throughout the Rockies from interior British Columbia south through much of Mexico. Winters in Mexico.
Associated with cool, shady locations along streams with mixed deciduous-coniferous forest with some openness under the canopy and opportunities for nest placement (Lowther et al 2023). The nest found at Cypress was under an overhang on a cut bank along Battle Creek.
A rare breeder in the West Block of the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Western Flycatcher in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=WEFL&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]
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