Olive-sided Flycatcher    Contopus cooperi

Conservation Status

General Status in Canada : Secure

COSEWIC Status : Threatened

SARA Status (legal designation under Canada's Species At Risk Act) : Threatened

Breeding Bird Surveys indicate North American populations have declined between 1966 and 2007. Consequently, Olive-sided Flycatchers have been listed as a Sensitive Species or Species of Concern by several government jurisdictions and conservation groups. Habitat loss on the wintering grounds is suspected as the main cause for the population decline, but the theory remains unproven. Breeding habitat is impacted by forestry, though most harvesting practices likely increase the amount of nesting areas by creating more preferred open habitats. Artificial openings created by forestry, mining, oil and gas exploration may attract larger numbers of squirrel and corvid predators that may impact breeding success. Global climate change may impact the timing of when flying insects emerge on the nesting grounds and consequently negatively affect breeding. Such effects may also be magnified by the Olive-sided Flycatcher already having one of the lowest natural reproductive rates of all songbird species.

Reference(s)

COSEWIC. 2007. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Olive-sided Flycatcher Contopus cooperi in Canada, , . Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vii + 25 pp. www.sararegistry.gc.ca/status/status_e.cfm

Altman, B., and R. Sallabanks. 2000. Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi), The Birds of North America Online, . A. Poole, Ed. Ithaca: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Retrieved from The Birds of North America Online database: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/502