Vermilion Flycatcher

Welcome to the Vermilion Flycatcher homepage! Please watch this YouTube Video for a brief introduction on the Vermilion Flycatcher! Enjoy! YouTube Video By: Jennifer Finn WHO AM I ? I am a bird. I am a flycatcher.  WHERE DO I LIVE?I live in scrub and deserts. Also, you can find me in open woodlands, cultivated lands and riparian woodlands.My population has vastly declined due to human water use and land development in the lower Colorado River Valley. When people destruct my habitat, it poses a great threat to our species. My nest is usually made of a loose cup of twigs, grasses and fibers. It is lined down with feathers and hair . You can usually find me nesting in a fork in a horizontal tree branch anywhere from 8-20 feet off the ground. Our nest is a shallow loose cup built by female. It is made with twigs, grasses, fibers and empty cocoons, and the interior is lined with down, feathers and hair. Females may add spider webs and lichens. WHAT DO I EAT? I mainly feed on terrestrial and flying insects. Some examples of these are grasshoppers, honeybees, beetles and crickets. Basically, I eat insects and other arthropods. HOW DO I LOOK? As for my looks, an adult male is mainly red and dark brown. It has a bright red crown and underparts. A blackish tint covers my face and neck. My back, wings and tail are blackish brown. An adult female has a greyish brown face, underparts, and crown. Her flight feathers and wings have a whiteish edge. The belly and vent are pale red to salmon. HOW DO I REPRODUCE? We start to nest in late March. The male flycatcher often seeks to initiate copulation by showing off a butterfly or another showy insect to the female.Females lay 2 to 4 white to cream or brown eggs, as soon as nest is built. She is fed by male at nest. Altricial chicks hatch within 24 hours. FUN FACTS ABOUT ME?Some fun facts about me are that the breeding male spends about 90 percent of the day perched. Now lets do something fun!!!! HEY KINDERGARTNERS- Lets practice what you learned today! Draw a picture of a MALE Vermilion Flycatcher and write one sentence! Remember he is RED! HEY FIRST AND SECOND GRADERS- Here is a fun activity: Find 3 pictures online of vermilion flycatchers and post them into power point. Each of the three slides will have one picture and one sentence describing the flycatcher!! HEY THIRD GRADERS! Here is a fun challange! Find 5 different pictures of the flycatcher or anything that you have learned about it (Its nest, where it lives in the desert, what color it is, what it eats) and post in power point with two sentences under each picture describing what you posted and why! http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Vermilion_Flycatcher/id This website is extremely informational and gives a great description on the Vermilion Flycatcher. Even if you are just beginning to learn about the different types of birds, you can look at this website for some great information on the Vermilion Flycatcher and see some fabulous pictures!