If you happen to be birding in Lincoln County on October 27, you might want to
consider going to Thornton Creek, east of Toledo. Tonight about 5:30 I found a
Myiarchus flycatcher there. I thought that both its call and plumage were
consistent with Great Crested.Flycatcher. My attention was first caught by a
call I did not recognize, a loud, rising "Wheeep", repeated about twenty times.
I went the fifty yards to the house to get my binoculars. The calls had been
coming from either the low edge of a hill across a pasture, or from a strip of
willow trees lining a small creek running through the pasture. Fortunately,
after I returned, the bird called a few more times, so I was able to move
toward the sound of the calls. About the time I was starting to think "possible
Gray Jay" (the only thing I could think of which sounds similar), I saw the
bird fly from the middle of an alder tree along a larger creek. The first thing
I noticed was a bright, and I do mean bright yellow belly. Then as the bird
flew higher in the branches I was able to see the bright rufous tail, and knew
immediately it was a Myiarchus flycatcher. I watched it for perhaps two or
three minutes to get some general impressions, and then went back to the house
and called Chuck Philo. While waiting for him to arrive, I went back to the
location where I had last seen the bird, It was still there, actively
flycatching, but largely silent. Over the next fifteen minutes I saw it perched
in a number of different locations, and was able to well see the features of
the plumage. On one occasion, it flew out of the willows where it was primarily
feeding and landed on an exposed hazel branch about sixty feet from me. Then it
flew back into the willows and disappeared. By the time Chuck arrived, I had
not seen it for six or seven minutes. But just as he arrived, it began calling
again, this time from a willow clump further up the small creek. We were able
to relocate it and observe it for about another ten minutes just before dusk
began to settle. We agreed on the following plumage characteristics: Size: at
or near that of Ash-throated, perhaps slightly larger. Bill approximately same
length as head. Head, peaked, brownish gray immediately above eye, darkening to
nearly blackish on back of crown. Nape, paler grayish, but still darker than
the side of face and throat. Throat and breast plain grayish, a bit lighter on
the sides, this color extending up on the head to nearly the level of the eye.
Back: brownish green. . Secondary coverts browner than the back, tipped with
white, revealing two distinct but weak whitish wing bars. Primaries: bright
rufous. Tertials: darker than rest of wing, edged broadly with two white lines.
Lower breast, belly, and undertail coverts: bright yellow. Tail: bright rufous;
From the top, in flight all feathers bright rufous on the outer web, brown on
inner web. From the underside appeared unbroken lighter rufous.
After viewing the bird, Chuck and I consulted the Sibley guide. We ruled out
Dusky-capped and Ash-throated Flycatchers by their lack of the bright yellow
belly on this bird. Ash-throated shows a brown tip to the tail lacking on this
bird. Neither have the dark tertials which contrast with the rest of the wing,
Neither have a tail as bright rufous as that which showed on this bird. These
plumage features essentially rule out Brown-crested Flycatcher as well.
Additionally, the throat on Ash-throated is much paler. Also the call, as
described was consistent with Great Crested, and did not fit any of the others.
A little later I listened to the calls of Great Crested on the Cornell site,
and thought they sounded identical to the bird seen.
One feature I did not note was the paler base to the bill said to be a good
mark for Great Crested. I'm not saying it was not present, only that I did not
observe it. All points considered, as stated, I thought that in terms of both
plumage and call the bird was consistent with Great Crested, and separable by
both from any of the other Myiarchuds of similar plumage. I saw the
Dusky-capped which showed up in Newport a number of years ago, have seen
Brown-crested in Arizona, and am reasonably familiar with Ash-throated from its
normal range in Oregon. I have no previous experience with Great Crested.
Birders are welcome to come to search for the bird tomorrow, so long as they
show proper respect for the fact that it is on private property. I would
recommend that anyone who desires to search for it arrive early. My experience
with fall migrants here is that they tend not to stick around very long. I
strongly suspect the bird will settle down in the willows tonight, and be gone
fairly early in the morning.
Directions. Thornton Creek Road turns north off U.S. Highway 20 just barely
west of milepost seventeen. Follow it 1.2 miles until you come to mailbox 1192.
Park nearby, and walk north along the road. Tonight the bird was found in the
alder and willows along the creek about fifty yards north of the mailboxes, and
also in the willows along the smaller creek running east through the pasture.
Birders have permission to bird along the road, and to go through the gate
which crosses the creek in order to access the willows along the creek running
east. Please be sure to shut the gate behind you, and please be aware that
permission is not granted to approach any of the houses in the neighborhood.
Thank you for your consideration.
Darrel
