The purported Yellow-bellied Flycatcher mentioned in this email is
interesting, but I am pretty sure it is not a YBFL as reported. So I for
one am glad it has not gone into eBird yet and maybe some uncertainty over
the ID is why it has not been handled yet, which is great (leaving just a
few million problems in ebirdâ¦..).
I was asked to look at this picture a week ago and in a cursory glance
decided a) it is probably an Acadian Fly but b) given one photo of a ratty
bird, in a notorious difficult genus, leaving it as Empid sp seems like a
real easy option.
I have spent a little more time looking at it this morning based on Susan's
prompt and am pretty convinced it is an Acadian and not a Yellow-bellied.
First, identifying the challenging birds in this genus by a single
photograph is a sure way to increase mistakes. Many features are subtle,
and an angle from one picture might suggest something totally different
than would be shown from another angle. But let me review the key features.
Acadian always looks like its features are larger than YBFL and every one
of those is evident here. It is hard to be sure about wing length as the
picture of the primaries is soft but that long pointed thing dropping down
looks like a long pointed primary projection. Acadian is more pewee like in
this feature, as opposed to the shorter, more rounded wing stack of YBFL.
Second, although the tail is ratty and thus hard to be certain, it has the
very broad (at the base) and long look of Acadian, as opposed to the more
restricted and shorter tail of YBFL. And look at that bill! To my eye it
looks very long, whereas YBFL has a much shorter bill, which also helps
their head look more rounded, as opposed to the longer, flatter look of
this bird.
I would be curious to know the arguments for this bird is a YBFL, as
reported. Perhaps it looked different in life compared to this one photo
(and in fact, I am sure it did!). Features I see birders struggle with in
this identification are the eye ring and throat color. There is so much
detail on these two topics that I don't want to go into here and I owe my
knowledge on this to Van Remsen, who encouraged me to go through every one
of the specimens in the LSU museum many years ago. In short, most Acadian
have white throats but plenty have yellow. And there is variation in eye
ring color and shape. This bird seems to have a pale yellow, very thin eye
ring, better for Acadian, as opposed to the bolder, more rounded ring of
YBFL, but given the view and variation, I discount this feature as a means
of reaching an ID of this one photo.
So unless someone can explain why this is a YBFL, I would be happy with
this being included as an Acadian, but open to leaving it as an Empid sp.
The link to the checklist with the photo in question is here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38411143
Matt Heindel
Fair Oaks Ranch TX
On Sat, Aug 5, 2017 at 8:11 AM, Susan Schaezler <susan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I understand Matt Boone is Guadalupe County ebird reviewer and I don't
have his address, if someone can help. We have a Yellow-bellied
Flycatcher, with picture on the rare bird report that hasn't been approved
since last 7-31.
Thanks to Byron for all his service!
Susan Schaezler
WarblerWoods.org, http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspot/L213585?yr=cur
501(c)(3) Cibolo/Schertz/Guadalupe County
Lone Star Land Steward Winner 2011. GCBO Site Partner
Life member TOS, SAAS, TAS
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