STATUS: Abundant.
HABITAT: Prefers open deciduous woodlands with a good understory of shrubs and young trees but is very adaptable. Frequently nests in mixed coniferous-deciduous forests, shade trees and shrubbery around farms, orchards, and willow and alder thickets bordering ponds and streams.
NEST: Normally builds its nest 10 to 20 feet above the ground in a crotch or on a horizontal limb of a second-growth deciduous tree. Frequently parasitized by brown-headed cowbirds when nesting outside of woodlands.
FOOD: Chiefly eats insects caught in the air or gleaned from leaves and branches. Also eats some spiders, daddy longlegs, and fruits.
REFERENCES: Baker 1944, Griscom and Sprunt 1979, Vickery in Farrand 1983c.