ML132895971

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

This small passerine was typical of an Empidonax in its size and shape, in that it seemed comparable in both respects to a "Western" Flycatcher that at one point interacted with the Yellow-bellied. I thought this bird's bill would have extended backward on the face to a point just behind the eye. It was also moderately broad at the base, blunt at the tip, and with the sides bowed outward slightly when seen from below. The forehead was sloping and the crown generally appeared rounded and without even a weak peak. The head was relatively large in proportion to the body, the neck was short and inconspicuous, and the body was plump and full chested. The posture was upright, but I am not sure if it was just above or just below the diagonal. The wings were of at least medium length, and the tapered wingtips appeared to reach the tips of the undertail coverts, which themselves reached about a third of the way out a tail that was about as long as the body without the head. The tail was narrow at the base, slightly flared distally, and with a weakly notched tip. I never saw the primary projection from behind when the bird was at a good angle, but when seen from the side it appeared to be roughly half the length of the exposed secondaries. I was unable to see the primary formula in the wingtip. This was a relatively brightly colored and boldly marked bird for an Empidonax. As far as I could determine the entire head and upperparts were a deep green in coloration. I had a hard time discerning the precise shade in what were generally less than ideal light conditions, but my impression was that this bird was less brown or bronzy than a typical Western Flycatcher. Also apparent was an eyering that was thin, well-defined, and round and this without the expansion behind the eye that results in a teardrop shape. I thought the eyering was light yellow, but it was difficult to be sure. Contrasting sharply with the green back, the wings generally appeared to be quite blackish in coloration. This bird had two wingbars, both of which extended straight across the respective coverts (the medians and greaters) and without any appreciable fringes extending up along the edges. I thought both wingbars were relatively narrow, but the upper may have been a little narrower than the lower. Quite conspicuous was a solid, black band between the wingbars and another one below the lower wingbar that separated it from the pale fringes on the remiges. The inner secondaries had well-defined edges of white or pale yellow that produced a conspicuously striped pattern on the rear part of the inner wing. The remaining remiges also appeared to have pale edges, but these were much narrower than those on the inner secondaries, so the striped pattern was much less conspicuous. I never clearly saw the wingtips, so I am not sure to what degree the primaries had pale tips. My views of the tail were less than ideal but it appeared to be dark brown and at best weakly marked. The throat was a pale yellow color that blended into the more greenish sides of the face, but I was never quite sure where precisely this demarcation was located. The belly, flanks, and undertail coverts were about this same shade of yellow, but the sides of the breast were washed with olive, which at times gave this bird a weakly vested appearance. The underside of the tail appeared to be uniformly dark, but I did not see it very well. I never did notice the color of the legs or feet, but the lower mandible was entirely a bright yellowish-orange color, the upper appeared to be dark, and the dark eyes stood out conspicuously against the pale eyering.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

3200

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/8.0

Shutter speed

1/1250 sec

Dimensions

2754 pixels x 2018 pixels

Original file size

6.46 MB