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EDIT 5-19-2016: I have changed this ID to Pacific-slope Flycatcher in light of new evidence. My previous notes are below. I will alter the photo/audio to reflect the new species shortly. A description of mitochondrial DNA testing of the bird's droppings from the NY Birders Facebook page follows: "Well, the moment many of you have been waiting for is finally here! Nick Mason and I have been working this whole semester (with a lot of troubleshooting) to try and extract DNA from the poop I collected back around Thanksgiving last year from the Central Park "Western" Flycatcher. Once we got DNA, we needed to sequence part of the ND2 gene to differentiate the two (with extremely low levels of DNA present). Today, we got the sequence results in, and we can say with near-certainty the bird is NOT a Cordilleran Flycatcher! In the Cordilleran Flycatcher ND2 (mitochondrial) gene, there are 5-6 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) that have been used to tell the two species apart in past papers. These SNPs should be present if the bird is a Cordilleran Flycatcher, and not present if it is a Pacific-slope. We only really need 3+ SNPs to tell this, which is why we eventually focused our efforts on examining the first section (of 4) of the gene (as it contains 3 SNPs). In the image attached here, you can see these SNPs are NOT present, indicating the bird is either a Pacific-slope or Pacific-slope X Cordilleran Flycatcher hybrid. We never will really know if the bird is a hybrid, but from the Rush et. al paper (2009), it appears these hybrids are quite uncommon, so I'd call this a Pacific-slope Flycatcher with near-confidence. We never will know 100% if its a hybrid or not as mitochondrial genes are only passed on through the mother, so the father's lineage has to be inferred. Regardless, thank you all for your patience, we finally have an answer! Combining this result with the beautiful recorded call notes embedded in Jay McGowan's checklist (http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25958695), I think the case is quite strong for this to be accepted as a Pacific-slope Flycatcher!" --Nathan Goldberg Link to a picture of DNA results accompanying report: https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/13221258_1002605963126071_5768086696528402009_o.jpg ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ORIGINAL POST 11-21-2016: I was lingering around the oven when I heard the bird had been found on the path between the boathouse and the feeders. A large group ended up on the bird around 9am (though I didn't check the time). It was very active and looked pretty rough. Eventually it flew off and could not be re-found for 25 minutes or so. I believe it was Isaac Grant who re-found it in the woods between the path and East Drive. He described to me hearing it call twice as a single up-slurred note. It came in immediately to others' calls of PSFL and COFL. I managed only subpar photos and two single "pip" note recordings in response to someone's playback. I included one here, but I doubt it will be useful for identification. Everyone present seemed to be in agreement that the teardrop-shaped eyering, extent of the pale secondary edging up to the lower wingbar, and the vocalizations rule out eastern Empids.
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