I heard back from a couple east coast birders who concur with Carter’s take (& Rich too) of a “Western”. And, as I already told Carter, his tip about the fieldmark regarding the edging on the secondaries blew my mind 🙂 Hadn’t heard of this but now I’ll look for it on any “Western” that has tantalizingly long primaries!
Will be interesting to see if this bird lingers and if anyone else gets lucky enough to see it.
Thanks,
On Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 04:35:50 PM MST, Richard and Ann Rusnak <rarusnak62@…> wrote:
Great pics Tom!
Sticking my neck out, any likelihood for a Pacific slope FC? Hope it finds its way soon. We photographed this PSFC at Torrey Pines SP, San Diego, Sept, 22
Happy and safe birding, Rich
On Nov 22, 2022, at 12:47 PM, Tom & Susan Soniville <tomnsueid@…> wrote:
Jay,
One more pic with a slightly different perspective. Maybe it will help.
Thanks for the information on the bird.
Tom
From: IBLE@groups.io <IBLE@groups.io> On Behalf Of
Jay Carlisle via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2022 12:32 PM
To: IBLE@groups.io
Subject: Re: [IBLE] Bird ID
This bird is intriguing. Overall matches a Cordilleran (“Western”) Flycatcher in many respects but one of the key fieldmarks (to separate this from even rarer possibilities)
is the primary projection – how far the primaries extend past the secondaries when the wing is folded. Since this bird isn’t completely folding its wings in any of these pictures (probably because it’s COLD!), that makes it hard to judge but it appears longer
than usual to me. I’ve just sent this to a few friends back east to get their impression …
On Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 09:28:36 AM MST, Tom & Susan Soniville <tomnsueid@…> wrote:
Jay, here are more pics. It was hanging out in the same area as a few ruby crowned kinglets.
Tom
Was this from today?! Which part of the park? That’s quite late (2+ months) for an
Empidonax flycatcher to be still hanging around at this latitude! Any other photos of this bird?
On Monday, November 21, 2022 at 08:21:49 PM MST, Tom & Susan Soniville <tomnsueid@…> wrote:
One last bird from Kathryn Albertson: I think this is a Cordilleran (Western) Flycatcher.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Tom Soniville
—
Tom Soniville
Boise. North End
—
Tom Soniville
Boise. North End
—
Tom Soniville
Boise. North End
<DSC_4204m1.jpg>
Great pics Tom!
Sticking my neck out, any likelihood for a Pacific slope FC? Hope it finds its way soon. We photographed this PSFC at Torrey Pines SP, San Diego, Sept, 22
Happy and safe birding, Rich
Lucian,
If the pics prove useful, you have my permission to use them.
Tom
Hey all,
FWIW I think this bird looks good for a Western. I really tried to turn it into a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, but I think the primary projection, although eye-catching, appears to be within range for Western (particularly for an out of season bird of indeterminate origin) and I can’t find any other fault with that ID.
I think the tipping point for me is the extent of buffy fringing in the secondaries. Yellow-bellied tend to have much more restricted fringing here, particularly at the outermost secondary or S1 (I’ll attach a figure that shows what I’m referring to here).
The thick eye-ring, facial structure/appearance, and lack of notable contrast point me away from Acadian as well.
Would love to hear what others think, but based off of these photos I would lean Western.
Best,
Carter
Getting a bit into the weeds here and heavily speculating, but between the two groups of Western Flycatcher (Pacific-slope and Cordilleran), Pacific-slope has slightly shorter wing morphology. If the much higher number of “Pacific-slopes” vs “Cordillerans” banded at Lucky Peak has any bearing on which birds are more frequently seen in Boise (and this is a big if, the formula we use to differentiate this might not actually mean anything), maybe the projection is just long for the Westerns we typically see? I doubt this is obvious enough to be able to tell in the field and I definitely don’t have the experience to say, but Jay maybe you could say if the difference could be discernable?
PS, Tom – if we settle on Western for this bird, could I use these photos with credit for a presentation on Western Flycatchers I’m giving for SIBA in December? Always nice to have photos from local photographers to feature!
Thanks!
Lucian
Jay,
One more pic with a slightly different perspective. Maybe it will help.
Thanks for the information on the bird.
Tom
From: IBLE@groups.io <IBLE@groups.io> On Behalf Of
Jay Carlisle via groups.io
Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2022 12:32 PM
To: IBLE@groups.io
Subject: Re: [IBLE] Bird ID
This bird is intriguing. Overall matches a Cordilleran (“Western”) Flycatcher in many respects but one of the key fieldmarks (to separate this from even rarer possibilities)
is the primary projection – how far the primaries extend past the secondaries when the wing is folded. Since this bird isn’t completely folding its wings in any of these pictures (probably because it’s COLD!), that makes it hard to judge but it appears longer
than usual to me. I’ve just sent this to a few friends back east to get their impression …
On Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 09:28:36 AM MST, Tom & Susan Soniville <tomnsueid@…> wrote:
Jay, here are more pics. It was hanging out in the same area as a few ruby crowned kinglets.
Tom
Was this from today?! Which part of the park? That’s quite late (2+ months) for an
Empidonax flycatcher to be still hanging around at this latitude! Any other photos of this bird?
On Monday, November 21, 2022 at 08:21:49 PM MST, Tom & Susan Soniville <tomnsueid@…> wrote:
One last bird from Kathryn Albertson: I think this is a Cordilleran (Western) Flycatcher.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Tom Soniville
—
Tom Soniville
Boise. North End
—
Tom Soniville
Boise. North End
—
Tom Soniville
Boise. North End
Thanks Tom
This bird is intriguing. Overall matches a Cordilleran (“Western”) Flycatcher in many respects but one of the key fieldmarks (to separate this from even rarer possibilities) is the primary projection – how far the primaries extend past the secondaries when the wing is folded. Since this bird isn’t completely folding its wings in any of these pictures (probably because it’s COLD!), that makes it hard to judge but it appears longer than usual to me. I’ve just sent this to a few friends back east to get their impression …
Thanks,
Jay
On Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 09:28:36 AM MST, Tom & Susan Soniville <tomnsueid@…> wrote:
Jay, here are more pics. It was hanging out in the same area as a few ruby crowned kinglets.
Tom
From: IBLE@groups.io <IBLE@groups.io> On Behalf Of
Jay Carlisle via groups.io
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2022 10:35 PM
To: IBLE@groups.io
Subject: Re: [IBLE] Bird ID
Was this from today?! Which part of the park? That’s quite late (2+ months) for an
Empidonax flycatcher to be still hanging around at this latitude! Any other photos of this bird?
On Monday, November 21, 2022 at 08:21:49 PM MST, Tom & Susan Soniville <tomnsueid@…> wrote:
One last bird from Kathryn Albertson: I think this is a Cordilleran (Western) Flycatcher.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Tom Soniville
—
Tom Soniville
Boise. North End
—
Tom Soniville
Boise. North End
Jay, here are more pics. It was hanging out in the same area as a few ruby crowned kinglets.
Tom
From: IBLE@groups.io <IBLE@groups.io> On Behalf Of
Jay Carlisle via groups.io
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2022 10:35 PM
To: IBLE@groups.io
Subject: Re: [IBLE] Bird ID
Was this from today?! Which part of the park? That’s quite late (2+ months) for an
Empidonax flycatcher to be still hanging around at this latitude! Any other photos of this bird?
On Monday, November 21, 2022 at 08:21:49 PM MST, Tom & Susan Soniville <tomnsueid@…> wrote:
One last bird from Kathryn Albertson: I think this is a Cordilleran (Western) Flycatcher.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Tom Soniville
—
Tom Soniville
Boise. North End
—
Tom Soniville
Boise. North End
Jay,
The flycatcher was at the west end of the park, backside of the pond, along the path. Saw it yesterday, late AM.
I have more pics that I can send later today.
Tom
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