ML217105311

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Update (18 February 2022): I originally reported this as a Western Kingbird, but I recently saw my photos again and thought it looked more like a Tropical. I called it a Western because its outer tail feathers appeared lighter, but I now realize that a Western actually should have a white shaft and outer web on each of the two outer rectrices, and the inner web of each outer rectrix should be dark, creating a contrasting two-toned pattern on each outer rectrix. Though they appear lighter than the rest of the tail, this bird's outer rectrices seem uniform in color, apparently ruling out Western. I assume the outer tail feathers appear lighter because they are splayed, so the light is shining through them, whereas the other tail feathers are more opaque when stacked together. The outer rectrices are also shorter than the others, so are likely regrowing from molt. Other features on this bird that may indicate Tropical are its notched tail and relatively large bill. Its yellowish coloration below appears muted and grayish, but this may just be a function of the lighting. Couch's can't be ruled out from these photos, but it seems reasonably safe to assume this bird was one of the same two Tropical Kingbirds that I found at the Palo Alto Baylands in fall 2019 and continued to be seen nearby, including along the San Francisquito Creek Trail by the Palo Alto airport, through the following winter and spring, with the last sighting of the spring on May 2, 2020. In the two winters since then, Tropical Kingbirds once again have been seen repeatedly throughout the Palo Alto Baylands area, particularly along the San Francisquito Creek Trail by Geng Road in Palo Alto, sometimes venturing over to the San Mateo County side. Anyway, I may be wrong in changing this ID and would be interested in others' opinions, but it now seems to me that this is not a Western but a Tropical. Original comments (21 March 2020): "From the bridge across the creek, I saw this bird perched in the top of a tree in the adjacent neighborhood. I could tell it was a kingbird, but I couldn't tell which species, so I tracked it down in the neighborhood for better looks and photos. I got excited when I first saw it, hoping it would be a Tropical, but an early Western is good too!"

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX620 HS

ISO

80

Focal length

112.5 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.6

Shutter speed

1/200 sec

Dimensions

2454 pixels x 1840 pixels

Original file size

905.15 KB