Bird

Least Flycatcher

Empidonax minimus

A summer resident that nests in North Carolina. Found in all 100 counties, across 15 habitats.

Here: Summer and on migration
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 15

Adult Least Flycatcher, whole bird — **Adult**. (c) Andrew Murray, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 312651491. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Summer and on migration
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 15
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 15

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 15

SummerSouth-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine ModifierNamed place / source context. Shown: Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Georgia, a neighboring state.Trail on Little Kennesaw Mountain., Unidentified in HFC record, undated. Public domain. Source record.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointCove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)*Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70*, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

SummerSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

Summer

Northern hardwood forests

High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.

Summer

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

SummerDeciduous Plantation; Managed Tree Plantation

SummerBeside its main habitat.Developed, Open SpaceLyell Carr, Black Mountain: a pasture and hayfield with a log barn, rail fence and grazing cow below the Black Mountains. Black Mountain, North Carolina (Lyell E. Carr)*Black Mountainlabel QS:Len,"Black Mountain"*, Lyell Carr, c. 1890-1912. Public domain. Source record.

SummerBeside its main habitat.Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

SummerBeside its main habitat.Disturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Mountain balds

Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.

SummerBeside its main habitat.Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub Modifier

Other habitats in its models (48)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (23)

Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Winter.
Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Winter.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Winter.
South Florida Cypress Dome Winter.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Winter.
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
South Florida Pine Flatwoods Winter.
South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Summer, beside its main habitat.
South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Winter.
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer.
Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Summer.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter.

Northeast (3)

Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer.
Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Summer.
Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Summer.

Land cover and other classes (22)

Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer.
Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Summer.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer.
Developed, Low Intensity Summer and winter, beside its main habitat.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Winter.
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Summer, beside its main habitat.
Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Summer, beside its main habitat.
Recently Burned Summer, beside its main habitat.
Recently Burned Forest Summer, beside its main habitat.
Recently Burned Shrubland Summer, beside its main habitat.
Recently Logged Areas Summer, beside its main habitat.
South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Herbaceous Modifier Summer.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Winter.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.
Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Summer.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

Migratory: does not nest here, in 84 of 100 counties.
Summer: nests here, in 25 of 100 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.