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Carlsbad, NM, USA - Piratic or Sulphur-bellied? (1 Viewer)

lvcuer

Well-known member
I birded Rattlesnake Springs (south of Carlsbad) and took these photos of a presumed Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher. In sharing my results with a local birder, he was surprised and claimed it was more likely a Piratic Flycatcher. That bird is not in any of my bird books and I've never seen a reference to it on the ABA list. The photos are not very good, but I hope someone out there can weigh in on the identification of this bird. Thanks.
 

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I birded Rattlesnake Springs (south of Carlsbad) and took these photos of a presumed Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher. In sharing my results with a local birder, he was surprised and claimed it was more likely a Piratic Flycatcher. That bird is not in any of my bird books and I've never seen a reference to it on the ABA list. The photos are not very good, but I hope someone out there can weigh in on the identification of this bird. Thanks.

I'd forward your photos to the New Mexico rare birds committee ASAP. I think the two possibilities are Variegated Flycatcher or Piratic Flycatcher (there might be others I'm not aware of, but not in my books). This bird shows considerable rufous in the tail, which is more characteristic of Variegated according to my references, but I'm not sure if juvenile Piratic might show that as well.

In any event, there have been multiple records of each in the U.S., but only a handful. Nice find!

Jim
 
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Definitely check out Variegated Flycatcher. There are about 3-4 records of that South American species from USA and Canada. There is indeed noticeable rufous on the tail of your bird. The northern South America guide (Birds of Northern South America by Restall et al.) indicate that the juvenile is simiar to the adult and is unstreaked below (plate 207).
 
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In addition to what Jim said, if you (or someone) can forward your sighting to the Arizona-New Mexico birding list, that would let the community know a.s.a.p. about this sighting.
 
Thanks...

Thanks for all the interesting feedback. Wish I'd hung around longer and tried to get better photos. I have forwarded the photos to NM RBA and we'll see what they have to say. Hopefully someone local will relocate the bird for a more certain identification. lvcuer
 
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