ML346970591

Observation details

I've been fairly confident since last year that like at least 90% of all Western type flycatchers in Spokane are hybrids. I recorded almost all individuals I detected last year making positioning calls and none ever perfectly matched either species, some even leaning more to the COFL side in the Mt. Spokane area. But this bird is the first one I've found where I thought to myself, no way is that not a hybrid. The overall shape appears like a flattened out pure PSFL call, and that reaches much higher pitch than pure COFL, but it has a faint break in the call just like COFL. I am sure there is a massively understudied hybrid zone here and in my opinion PSFL and COFL should be lumped back into just Western Flycatcher.