Flycatcher? ID help please

[Julie Brown]

This was the best look I got of this bird.

White Ranch Open Space Park, Jefferson County, Colorad 5/29/11

[John Chardine]

Hi Julie- This will be a tough one! It is a flycatcher. I think it could be a Western Wood-Pewee based on distribution and the whitish wingbars. The "problem" flycatcher genus Empidonax have a more "baby-faced" look than this bird so I think we can eliminate that group. Of course I could be completely wrong here so look forward to hearing from others.

[Dan Brown]

I think John is right, WW Pewee. Along with John's points, I see no eye ring.

[Paul Guris]

I agree with the ID. For more information on the field marks, take a look at the Western Wood-Pewee page on BirdFellow and then click on the "Identification Photos" section.

http://www.birdfellow.com/birds/west...pus-sordidulus

[Julie Brown]

Thanks John and Dan. Paul I did check that link, which I find to be helpful. I appreciate your patience with me on these birds. I need to spend more time studying the field marks.

[Paul Guris]

Thanks John and Dan. Paul I did check that link, which I find to be helpful. I appreciate your patience with me on these birds. I need to spend more time studying the field marks.

No problem. Flycatchers in particular are tough. Besides, working out photo ID questions helps my ID skills too.

[Julie Brown]

Thanks Paul. Now I won't feel guilty about relying on your expertise so much!

[John Chardine]

No problem. Flycatchers in particular are tough. Besides, working out photo ID questions helps my ID skills too.

Too true Paul.

[Dan Brown]

Too true Paul.

I love the challenges! It's like birding (on the couch).

[John Chardine]

It's actually harder than that Dan. I think we hugely underestimate our ability to ID a bird by overall look or "gestalt". Once you have a bird in the hand or less so when you are looking at an image, you lose this source of information and the ID can become much more difficult.

[Ron Ridout]

I believe this bird is actually an Olive-sided Flycatcher. While on first blush, Western Wood-Pewee might seem plausible there are a number of features which just don't jibe with that identification.

The first is the massive, wide bill with an almost completely yellow lower mandible. Pewees have a slimmer bill and Westerns' lower mandibles are at least 50% distally black. The bird also appears to be too big-headed for a pewee. Looking carefully at what breast and throat feathers we can see, there is a distinct white throat and a very dusky breast band indicative of an Olive-sided. WWPE would exhibit a somewhat dusky breast band with a less contrasting dusky throat. The one flank feather that we can see appears to be fairly dusky as well. The overall colouration of the back also appears to be the colder tone of an Olive-sided.

The bird also exhibits an exceptionally long primary projection and appears to be fairly short-tailed as a result though this is not totally apparent give the fore-shortening of the angle of view. This would indicate Olive-sided over WWPE.

While not a clincher by any means, the bird is also sitting in the top of a dead conifer which is just the type of perch that Olive-sideds prefer throughout their range.

Jefferson County also falls well within the range of Olive-sided.

All things added up, I believe the bird in the photo is an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Ron Ridout
Bird Studies Canada

[John Chardine]

Thanks Ron, and a big welcome to BPN.

[Julie Brown]

Hi Ron,

Thanks so much for providing all of that detailed info. It gives me a lot to study when I look at my photos and field guides.

[Ron Ridout]

Julie

Yes flycatchers can be a handful even for experienced observers and it's often difficult to remember all of the field marks which add up to clinch an identification.

I think the bright edgings on the wing coverts were the feature that may have led to thinking pewee. One doesn't expect to see them on an Olive-sided. They do occur in fresh plumage though they usually wear away quite quickly.

I won't claim to be a world authority on them but the field marks of wood-pewees are fresh in my mind as I'm in the middle of writing an account for our provincial journal of the first sighting of Western Wood-Pewee in southern Ontario.

Your photo of one taken on the same trip to Colorado is a classic Western exhibiting some of the field marks I mention above.

Thanks for the photos.

All the best

Ron

Ron Ridout
Bird Studies Canada

[Julie Brown]

Hi Ron,

Thank you for your input. Although a novice, I am finding that the flycatchers are both challenging and fun to try and ID.

[Dave Irons]

Greetings All,

This is my first post to this forum. I believe the bird in this image is an Olive-sided Flycatcher, which has been suggested by at least one other respondent. What I notice first about this bird is that it has a fairly long and very broad bill attached to an over-sized looking head. The wings are long, extending well past the tips of the upper tail coverts and way down the tail, which puts it in the Contopus genus (pewees, etc.). To my eye, Western Wood-Pewees (and Easterns for that matter) are rather elongated, thin-looking flycatchers on which the head seems to fit or if anything looks a bit undersized for the bird. Their bills rarely look long or particularly broad at the base. Conversely, Olive-sideds have exceptionally large heads and bulky torsos and a long, broad-based bill.

As for the head and face pattern, W-W Pewees have a pretty uniform gray and neck color and the throat is sort of ashy-gray and not a lot lighter in tone than the head. Olive-sideds have a very pale creamy-white throat that extends on the lower cheek contrasting noticeably with the darker auriculars and crown, which are much darker (dusky) than the head color of a pewee. I see that others in this forum, including my friend Paul Guris, have been referencing BirdFellow.com species accounts and photo galleries in various posts. We certainly appreciate the love. Below are the links to the species accounts for the two species being discussed. Once you reach the account pages, simply click on the "identification photos" red text below the feature image. This will take you to a gallery of images for the species.

Links to www.birdfellow.com species accounts for these two species:

Western Wood-Peweee: http://www.birdfellow.com/birds/west...pus-sordidulus

Olive-side Flycatcher: http://www.birdfellow.com/birds/oliv...ntopus-cooperi

Good birding,

Dave Irons
Content Editor BirdFellow.com

[Rick Poulin]

One important feature still bothers me about this flycatcher being identified as an Olive-sided. The lack of a white flank spot which is usually so noticeable on an Olive-sided. The way the near wing is tucked in thespot should be visible.

I also believe the darker feathers on the side of the breast nearest the wings is an artefact of the shadow cast by the upright branch.

[Julie Brown]

Hi Dave and Rick. I appreciate the additional input. Dave, the Birdfellow website is now on my bookmarks bar since Paul first mentioned it. Thanks for your detailed post.