[Gorgon]

I have seen in a number of recent posts about the difficulty of identifying Empidonax flycatchers. As I have not yet been to North (or South?) America and HBW hasn't reached this genus yet I am intrigued. Particularly when Larry Lade mentions that he has captured (but not banded I assume) "numerous empidonax flycatchers."

Obviously these are hard fellas to identify if you can't do it in the hand. I vaguely recall hearing of Cisticolas and Prinias? that can only be identified by measuring select primaries, but this can surely be done while banding.

How are Empidonax flycatchers identified in the field? (a brief sacn of the net said habitat, call and range). If this is the case how are museum specimens (which is the usual way of at least identifying things) used for determining the species in the first case? Were they all one species on morphometrics and were then split on behavious and vocalisations?

Cheers,
Peter

[Gorgon]

Oops,
Should have looked further on the Forum as I seem to have found the answer already written by Larry himself.
Apologies again.
Cheers,
Peter

[Tero]

I'm not sure where those threads are. I managed to ID one today by song, of the two likely to be here. This one was Acadian. It sounds sort of like a squeky toy.

[Kevin Mac]

Bill shape and width is a good ID feature for Empidonax in the hand.

[Bluetail]

The best info on empids that I've come across so far is:

1) "The Empidonax Flycatchers" in Kenn Kaufmann, A Field Guide to Advanced Birding (Peterson Field Guide Series, Boston, 1990)

2) This site:
http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/archive/empid/

3) Some of the individual species accounts here include recordings of the songs:
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html