| Like other flycatchers this bird is olive green above and whitish below with two white wing bars and a narrow eye ring. It is indistinguishable from the Alder Flycatcher except by voice and habitat as well as breeding and nesting habits. In fact they were once thought to be the same species and were both formerly known as Traill's Flycatcher.
The Willow Flycatcher prefers swampy thickets, upland pastures and old abandoned orchards. Where as the Alder Flycatcher is more likely found in wooded areas along lakeshores and streams. The breeding range covers most of the western United States into British Columbia and across the northern part of the United States in the east across the great lakes region to main. The northern most range of the Acadian Flycatcher overlaps the range of this species. The eye ring of the Acadian is somewhat more pronounces and this may aid in separating the species. The Willow winters from southern Mexico to Panama.
The eggs are a a creamy white with fine brown speckling and a clutch will consist of 3 or 4 placed in a compact cup of fine plant material placed low in a shrub or sapling. The eggs are incubated for 12 to 13 days by the female and the young fledge the nest about two weeks later.
The numbers have declined over the past several decades because of loss of habitat and parasitism of the Brown-headed Cowbird.
The diet consists mainly of insects, but berries and sometimes seeds are also eaten.
Length 6 inches
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