Fascinating. I did not realize they could be so unyellow. I took the color as
eliminating Western.
Alan Contreras
Eugene, Oregon
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
www.alanlcontreras.com
On Nov 13, 2020, at 11:07 AM, Richard Hoyer (Redacted sender birdernaturalist
for DMARC) <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Bill and All,
I'd rather agree with Maitreya and Paul Sullivan that this is a Western
Flycatcher. The lack of green and yellow you'd come to expect could be a
combination of age, wear/bleaching, and an artifact of the light and digital
rendering of colors. Having said that, first fall Western Flycatcher can look
brownish as on the back in this bird, and one photo (ML 279532961) does show
a yellowish tinge remaining on the breast that should be absent on most other
empids, especially in a worn/bleached state. (I don't think there's anything
on this bird that suggests Yellow-bellied or Acadian.) But the bushy-crested
look as well bill size and shape (long, deep, and wide-based) seem to fit
that "species" best. The almond-shaped eyering is also good for Western, but
it's reduced from a typical fresh-plumaged bird and such an eyering can be
seen also on Hammond's and Dusky.
Amazing find on such a late date.
Good Birding,
Rich
---
Rich Hoyer
Eugene, Oregon
birdernaturalist@xxxxxx
Senior Leader for WINGS
http://wingsbirds.com
my blog: http://birdernaturalist.blogspot.com
---
On Nov 12, 2020, at 4:53 PM, bill shelmerdine <georn1@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
All,
While birding Hatfield Lake a couple of days ago I encountered an
interesting empid. I have been on the road, just returned home today and
downloaded some digi-scoped photos of the bird and entered the trip list
into ebird. I have yet to work out the I.D. and would welcome any comments
or suggestions. Could lead to some interesting discussion and a chance to
learn. Photos and notes can be found here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S76175560
Bill Shelmerdine
Olympia WA
