Great crested flycatcher is a little bird with a huge aerial attack

Great crested flycatchers are nature's fighter pilots when navigating the upper forest canopy. They are skilled aerialists that pursue and capture insects, such as dragonflies, beetles, wasps and grasshoppers on the wing (in flight) — sometimes even crashing through vegetation to chase its prey. The flycatchers also include birds named kingbirds, phoebes and pewees. Great crested flycatchers are an attractive soft yellow and gray bird with cinnamon-edged wings and tail, known as the "treetop tyrant." They are a "sit and watch" insectivore, who in typical flycatcher fashion, returns to the same branch — which is helpful for photographers, who can also sit and watch. Perched high in trees, they have a well-recognized repetitive call and raise their crest when excited. Its loud, "wheep!" followed by "whit-whit-whit-whit," is often heard before the bird is seen. Widespread during the summer throughout the eastern United States, they migrate to Mexico and Columbia in the winter. Great crested flycatchers are susceptible to building collisions since they travel at night during migration. Though they favor dead trees, often re-using woodpecker holes, these flycatchers will use man-made nesting boxes. Their choice of décor includes grasses, leaves, twigs and stems. Interestingly, they may use snakeskin in their nests as well. Their nests are about 3.5 inches big, placed two to 70 feet off the ground. They usually lay 4-8 eggs which incubate in a couple of weeks and are fed by both parents. Last June, a great crested flycatcher took residence in a kestrel box monitored by Black River Audubon in Grafton, which was very exciting to find and the first one in the nesting box program. It laid four eggs in a cozy little nest. The first egg was laid June 20, 2022, with a hatch date of July 7, 2022. Three of the four fledged on July 22, 2022. We are hoping they nest again this summer. Great crested flycatchers, and other cavity-nesters, make the case to leave those dead snags. Snags are dead and dying trees and are important to wildlife. When they eventually fall, they are logs, which are also useful to wildlife. If we leave them be, nature will take care of them for us. They will also use those aerial skills to protect their homes. Quite territorial, they will aggressively attack and drive out intruders. Great crested flycatchers often practice site-fidelity, returning to the same nest year after year. Great crested flycatchers have been declining since the 1980s, as have the insects and availability off nesting locations. "The Insect Effect: Insect Decline and the Future of Our Planet," by Thompson Earth Systems Institute notes: "While many insects can seem like pests, they provide a wide range of services to other plants and animals in our environment. In fact, a diverse range of insect species is critical to the survival of most life on Earth, including bats, birds, freshwater fishes and even humans! Along with plants, insects are at the foundation of the food web, and most of the plants and animals we eat rely on insects for pollination or food. For example, 96% of songbirds feed insects to their young." As we are busy cleaning up our yards and fixing up the flower bed, I will make the plea to refrain from using pesticides. In "Create an Insect Buffet for Birds," from NestWatch it is suggested, "Encourage insects in your spheres of influence: turn off the bug zapper, put down the insecticide sprayer and use protective clothing and bug spray to protect yourself." NestWatch further offers the following tips to help create that insect buffet. Bird-friendly mowing Grasses and wildflowers can provide excellent habitat. If you have a piece of your property that you can control the mowing schedule for, first try to reduce the frequency of mowing and leave the blades three inches tall or higher. This can ensure plants such as clovers retain their flowers, thus continuing to support pollinators. Water resources Insects tend to congregate over bodies of water. These irreplaceable "nutrient hotspots" need protection from disturbances like urbanization, agricultural pesticides and fertilizers. If you have a backyard or farm pond, don't mow right up to the edge; leave a vegetation buffer around it to provide places for insects to feed, rest and lay eggs. This will also attract aerial insectivores who may nest nearby. Native plants Native plants are those that have been growing in your region for thousands of years. Evidence shows that native plants support more insects than non-native, exotic species. There is intense competition for nesting cavities in the wake of human development and habitat fragmentation, and the flycatchers have had to adapt. NestWatch further notes: "Aerial insectivores nest in remarkably diverse locations — in tree hollows and nest boxes, on homes and buildings, on the ground, high on gravel rooftops, in sandy burrows, under bridges, in chimneys, inside caves and even behind waterfalls! Human tolerance of their sometimes-inconvenient nesting sites is a big factor in helping populations recover." Beautiful birds like the great crested flycatcher are like a lot of birds that can really use our help—and much of that help can be accomplished by simply doing nothing. Leave the dead trees, resist the insecticides, mow less and practice tolerance in our neighborhoods.