Empidonax difficilis
Silhouette: Emily Willoughby · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The western flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis) is a small insectivorous bird in the family Tyrannidae. It is native to western North America, where it breeds in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast forests and mountain ranges from California to Alaska and south to central Mexico; northern populations migrate south to Mexico for the winter.
The western flycatcher was recognized as a single species until 1989, when the American Ornithologists' Union split it into two different species: the Pacific-slope flycatcher (E. difficilis) of coastal western North America and parts of the western Rocky Mountains, and the Cordilleran flycatcher (E. occidentalis) of the interior Rocky Mountains, with both species wintering in Mexico. Both species looked virtually identical to one another, with the split being based on differing breeding habitats and apparent differences in songs and calls. The split was recognized until 2023, when the American Ornithologists' Union and International Ornithological Congress again lumped both species due to a lack of consistent vocal, genetic, morphological differences and extensive hybridization across much of their range.
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| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific-slope Flycatcher sighting in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, based on 125 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 68th most-seen of the 141 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific-slope Flycatcher in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and October–April, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pacific-slope Flycatcher sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
17th of 25
Of the 25 parks where we can rate Pacific-slope Flycatcher sightings, Joshua Tree National Park ranks 17th at under 5%. The best odds are in Redwood National Park (United States, about 20%), Pacific Rim National Park Reserve (Canada, about 20%) and Olympic National Park (United States, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pacific-slope Flycatcher is recorded against all the birds logged in Joshua Tree National Park (125 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
