ML79918681
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Observation details
I heard a typical Empid “wit” call of Dusky/Gray/Least/Willow but with a sharper introduction so perhaps better written as “pwip!” I assumed I would find a dusky but instead saw a bird that looked much like a Cordilleran. At this point I assumed it must be a Pacific-slope, Cordilleran, Yellow-bellied or Pine Flycatcher, but given the voice it seemed that it could only be a Pine, which should be expected in this location. Since I am not familiar with this species I spent 10 minutes studying, videotaping and photographing the bird. Over the course of the next hour we ran into about 5-10 more of these birds, some of which were heard only and are entered on this list as "Empidonax sp." We did not see any empids that were obviously a different species. Visually much like a "Western" (PS/CO) Flycatcher with a mostly olive/brown upper and yellowish underside. It had a obvious "teardrop" pattern to the eyering. The crown had a slight crest similar to "Western" or Hammond's Flycatcher. If it were silent I would probably not have noticed that it was not a "Western". However upon closer inspection, it did show some differences: clearly longer primary extension, browner back, overall longer structure and contrasting grayish sides of head. This latter feature was the most obvious to me in the field. The crown and face (except auricular) was a neutral gray, contrasting with the olive and brown tones of the rest of upperparts. It frequently flicked its wings and tails like a Hammond's Flycatcher or Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It also seemed to me that the spacing of the primaries differed from "Western": the outer 2 primaries that were visible (which I assume were p9 &10) lay on top of each other and there was a big gap to the next primary. after that the gaps grew increasingly small. This pattern was consistent on all of the birds I saw. By contrast "Western" shows narrower gaps (due to the shorter primary extension) with a less obvious difference between the largest gap and the next one. Today I did not hear any of the characteristic sharp calls of Pacific-slope or Cordilleran flycatchers. I only hear these birds making the "pwip" call. The notes above reflect what I noted in the field. When I returned to the car, I checked Howell & Webb. Howell also mentions that the wingbars are different than on Western Flycatcher, but I didn't notice this difference in the field. In reviewing photos online, the gray face does appear to be a useful mark for differentiating Pine from "Western". On the other hand, the primary gaps appear variable and perhaps less useful than they seemed to me today in the field. I obtained video (including sound) and photos. Assuming I have identified these birds correctly (which I believe I have), it’s odd that there are few previous eBird records of Pine near Santa Rosa / Presa Peralia but lots of Cordilleran records. I wonder if some of those records (at least in winter) might in fact pertain to Pine Flycatcher. Or maybe Pine Flycatchers are just very local and/or irregular. However today there were lots of Pines and no Cordillerans.
Technical information
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