ML642247349

观察细节

Medium to long-tailed empid with minimal upper/underparts contrast, short primary extension, longer bill with a dark tip. This bird immediately stood out to me as very gray overall and a potential Dusky, but I tempered my hopes and took my time since I've been tricked many times this year by weird Least Flycatchers. Luckily, this bird was cooperative and cycled between a few perches in young willows for about 15 minutes on the west end of the lake. It was flicking in its tail quite a bit, but not dipping like a Phoebe, so I eliminated Gray. The bill seemed rather long and the head was not peaked, so that eliminated Hammond's. With only Least left, I focused mostly on the contrast between upper/under/throat and the wing panel. Overall the contrast seemed pretty low, especially between the head and the flanks. The wing bars were quite dull, not bright. That, plus the long bill and proportionally long tail sealed it as a Dusky. Lifer, Nebraska #352, Nebraska year #344