ML44515901

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Dusky-capped Flycatcher Myiarchus tuberculifer Wister Unit Nature Trail, Imperial County, California. 22 December 2005. 6:30 am-1:30 pm. On the 21 December a Rufous-backed Robin was found at the Wister Unit Nature Trail around dusk, so a fairly large group of us (about twenty) were there at dawn to look for it. We were all standing on the road waiting for the robin, when about fifteen minutes after we got there we heard a Dusky-capped Flycatcher call in the shrubbery to our left and a few of us called it out. David Vander Pluym then located it low in a eucalyptus tree. The bird was moving around in the tamarisks and low in the trees and calling frequently. I think everyone there got to see the flycatcher. We lost track of the bird for most of the mid morning until I relocated it around 12:30 pm. About five of us watched the bird for the next hour or so and took photos. All my photos were digi-scoped. Description: Obviously a Myiarchus flycatcher. It seemed small for a Myiarchus, only slightly larger than a Black Phoebe, but the tail was shorter. Back, wings, tail, nape, crown, and auricular medium brown. The crown seemed a little darker in the right light. The primaries and secondaries were dusky. Throat and upper chest light gray. The rest of the underparts were pale yellow, all the way to the undertail coverts. The yellow and gray on the underparts blended together (they didn't contrast). The gray on the throat blended in with the brown of the auricular, but the auricular was mostly gray. The edgings on the primaries and secondaries were bright rufous, except at the tips of the secondaries, which were edged whitish. The rufous edgings on the primaries extended only about three quarters of the way down the feathers. The tertials were edged whitish. The greater and median coverts were edged pale rufous. The rectrices were all thinly edged rufous on both the upper and undersides. However, the tips of the rectrices were not edged rufous. The rufous on the tail was brightest at the base of the outer tail feathers. The uppertail coverts were pale rufous, fading in to the brown of the rump. The bill was about half the length of the head. Bill and legs black. The inside of the bill was bright yellow-orange, more pinkish towards the gape. Eye dark brown. The primary projection was very short, only three feathers showing past the secondaries. None of the feathers showed obvious signs of wear or molt. Call: The bird gave its distinctive, plaintive, whistled "wheeeeew" call fairly regularly early on the morning, but not later in the day. Discussion: All other Myiarchus flycatchers are ruled out by the call, fairly small size, no extensive rufous on the underside of the tail, and rufous on the secondaries. This is the second of three Dusky-capped Flycatchers I saw in southern California in a week, all of which were calling. I have also seen many Dusky-capped Flycatchers in Central America and southeast Arizona. Optics used: I had a 10x42 Audubon Equinox Binoculars and a Nikon Coolpix 7900 Digital Camera with 7 megapixels. I also used David Vander Pluym's 20-65 zoom Spotting Scope. Written a week after the sighting, from memory and from my photos. Oscar Johnson

Technical information

Model

E7900

ISO

50

Focal length

7.8 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/4.8

Shutter speed

10/2787 sec

Dimensions

1942 pixels x 1605 pixels

Original file size

925.11 KB