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Observers: 2
Checklist Comments
I had been banding birds all morning at the Big Sur Ornithology Lab. Lots of birds had been moving through, but nothing unusual. As I usually do, I called the Monterey Bird Box after we closed the nets for the day, at around 12:15 PM. On the tape I heard that Don Roberson had observed an interesting Empidonax Flycatcher at Pt Pinos. After completing my daily task, I headed up to Pt Pinos, arriving at around 4:30. I found David Vander Pluym already on the scene near the bathrooms, videoing an Empidonax Flycatcher. However, before I could place my binoculars on the bird, it disappeared into a dense stand of Cypress trees where we could not refind it. I asked David a bit about the bird, and he told me that it was quite similar to the bird he had observed the previous weekend at the Salton Sea. The bird then reappeared a little while later and became rather confiding, allowing for short viewing periods at close range before moving to another perch. Several other observers, including Don Roberson, Bob Tintle and Rita Carratello arrived, and we had an informative discussion on this bird. I finally left at around 6:45, when I went to scope offshore of the Point.
This bird, first found by Don Roberson, was accepted by the CBRC.
My CBRC description: Description: Overall a very yellow and green Empidonax Flycatcher. It appeared to be a Hatch Year bird, due to wing bar and tertial coloration and pattern. The bird was rather flighty, not often staying in one location for very long. Head: Crown, auriculars, face and neck were dull olive-green in coloration. Sub-malar and throat were yellow. The eye-ring was thin and rounded and was slightly pointed at the rear, giving it a very slight almond-shape. It was pale yellow, not quite white. The eye-ring flattened out and was noticeably thinner at the top. Both the eye and the eye-ring appeared to be large in proportion to the head. The bird had a very slight crest, which was rather short and not very shaggy. The bird’s bill was rather short and thin, more like that of a Least Flycatcher’s. The upper mandible was wholly dark, while the lower was completely pale. Body and tail: The bird’s back was uniformly olive-green, the same as the color of the head, with no apparent contrast between the two. The yellow of the throat extended down the breast, through the belly, through the under tail coverts. The sides of the breast and flanks were lightly streaked with dull olive-green. The breast streaking gave the bird a “vested” appearance, not unlike that of a Western Wood-Pewee’s. The center of the breast was clean yellow, connecting the yellow of the throat and the belly. The tail appeared rather short, enhancing the impression of the bird being small. The upper side of the tail was similar to the back in coloration. Wings: In general the wings were dark with two pale wing bars dominating. The background color seemed to shift from almost black to dark chocolate brown depending on the birds position in relation to the sun. The secondaries and tertials were edged in pale yellow. The last tertial, was the lightest, with broad edges that appeared almost white. The primary projection was rather short. The wing bars, occurring through the median and greater coverts appeared to shift color depending on the bird’s position, from buffy to almost white. In neutral light they appeared to be a pale yellow color. I was not able to evaluate the primary formula on the closed wing. Voice: The bird only uttered a few sharp, squeeky calls while I was in its presence, which I can only describe as “Squeek!” or “Squee!”
Discusion: “Western” Flycatcher was eliminated only with great care and caution. I felt that the color of the wing bars and tertials, the shape and coloration of the eye-ring and the vested appearance were all wrong for “Western” Flycatcher. In addition, the vocalization was completely out of the realm of my experience. I have never heard a bird give a literal “squeek”.
Details
This bird, first found by Don Roberson, was accepted by the CBRC.
My CBRC description:
Description: Overall a very yellow and green Empidonax Flycatcher. It appeared to be a Hatch Year bird, due to wing bar and tertial coloration and pattern. The bird was rather flighty, not often staying in one location for very long.
Head: Crown, auriculars, face and neck were dull olive-green in coloration. Sub-malar and throat were yellow. The eye-ring was thin and rounded and was slightly pointed at the rear, giving it a very slight almond-shape. It was pale yellow, not quite white. The eye-ring flattened out and was noticeably thinner at the top. Both the eye and the eye-ring appeared to be large in proportion to the head. The bird had a very slight crest, which was rather short and not very shaggy. The bird’s bill was rather short and thin, more like that of a Least Flycatcher’s. The upper mandible was wholly dark, while the lower was completely pale.
Body and tail: The bird’s back was uniformly olive-green, the same as the color of the head, with no apparent contrast between the two. The yellow of the throat extended down the breast, through the belly, through the under tail coverts. The sides of the breast and flanks were lightly streaked with dull olive-green. The breast streaking gave the bird a “vested” appearance, not unlike that of a Western Wood-Pewee’s. The center of the breast was clean yellow, connecting the yellow of the throat and the belly. The tail appeared rather short, enhancing the impression of the bird being small. The upper side of the tail was similar to the back in coloration.
Wings: In general the wings were dark with two pale wing bars dominating. The background color seemed to shift from almost black to dark chocolate brown depending on the birds position in relation to the sun. The secondaries and tertials were edged in pale yellow. The last tertial, was the lightest, with broad edges that appeared almost white. The primary projection was rather short. The wing bars, occurring through the median and greater coverts appeared to shift color depending on the bird’s position, from buffy to almost white. In neutral light they appeared to be a pale yellow color. I was not able to evaluate the primary formula on the closed wing.
Voice: The bird only uttered a few sharp, squeeky calls while I was in its presence, which I can only describe as “Squeek!” or “Squee!”
Discusion: “Western” Flycatcher was eliminated only with great care and caution. I felt that the color of the wing bars and tertials, the shape and coloration of the eye-ring and the vested appearance were all wrong for “Western” Flycatcher. In addition, the vocalization was completely out of the realm of my experience. I have never heard a bird give a literal “squeek”.