Two flycatchers in Southern Arizona (1 Viewer)

[sirijay]

Took these photos in a scrubby area somewhere near Tucson about two weeks ago.
I am thinking that Flycatcher-B is a Dusky Flycatcher, but unsure about either one.
Flycatchers drive me nuts - please help with ID. Thanks.

 

[Butty]

B is a Myiarchus.

 

[Harrybongo]

Hi. First pic maybe a, Western wood pewee?

 

[Ruff-Leg]

A. is a wood-pewee. B is more likely ash-throated. Its colors in the crown, throat, and belly are consistent with ash-throated. It doesn't look worn enough to account for bleached coloring late in the season.

 

[Ruff-Leg]

Location? There is some altitudinal difference.

 

[THE_FERN]

A. is a wood-pewee.

Yes: long primary projection, barely visible wing bars. It's a young one as it seems to still have vestiges of an orange gape

 

[Ruff-Leg]

Yes: long primary projection, barely visible wing bars. It's a young one as it seems to still have vestiges of an orange gape

Agree.

 

[rkj]

I wonder if the second bird is not a Dusky-capped Flycatcher, based on the thin bill and apperant lack of rufous in the tail. I will admit the breast is perhaps not as dark as I would expect in that species.

 

[KC Foggin]

Wood-peewee for the top one. Not sure on the bottom one.

 

[sirijay]

Thanks for all the comments.
Unfortunately, I don't recall the exact location of photo-A. It was a mixed flock of birds in a dry scrubby area. I was leaning toward identifying this bird as a Dusky rather than Ash-throated because it appeared to be somewhat smaller than the Ash-throated and the rufous color was not as strong.

I have a attached a photo of another bird that was also in this flock which I believe is an Ash-throated.
Not sure whether this helps, but thought I'd send it along. Thanks

 

[rkj]

Not sure about the last bird, but note that Dusky Flycatcher (Empidonax oberholseri) is a different bird than Dusky-capped Flycatcher (Myiarchus tuberculifer), and none of these is the former. It can be confusing.

 

[sirijay]

Sorry - I was referring to Dusky Capped Flycatcher

 

[tom baxter]

1. Is a Western Wood Pewee. As others noted, the overall gray color, lack of eye ring, and very long primary projection are signs that it is a Contopus sp. The all black bill is a significant factor for discounting Greater Pewee, and the bill is not large enough, and the wing bars are too pronounced for Olive-sided Flycatcher.

2. Is definitely Myiarchus sp. In my opinion it’s probably an Ash-throated Flycatcher > Dusky-capped because of the rufous primary shafts, white fringed covert feathers and relatively short looking bill. Perhaps most notably, the outter retrix (tail) feather in the extra photo you provided has a brown rounded off tip that sections off the subterminal orange. This is consistent with one of the better field marks for Ash-throated Flycatcher that is highlighted in my attached photo, screen-shotted from the Sibley field guide app. I think that most of the time adult Dusky-capped will have relatively drab primary shafts, lack boldly white fringed coverts, and have a bill that is noticeably longer, but it is hard to figure out how consistent these patterns are.

In review of the Macaulay Library links below, you will find a mixture of examples of Dusky-capped Flycatchers showing different appearances, presenting a very confusing complex. Many of them do not look like they have a long bill, and have extra rufous coloring on the flight feathers, in direct challenge to my assertions. I think it is very likely that many of these photos in Macaulay Library are misidentified, but of course I don't always know for sure what I am looking at either. A good approach to figuring it out, in my opinion, is to scroll through the photos in the database and look for examples where the best field marks are clearly visible, not obscured at all, and disregard the other non ideal photos where it is more likely that the observer is guessing at the ID. Look for the best photos that show bill length, and flight feather plumage, exactly like your second photo, and look to see if there are any consistencies or not. Taking this filtered approach, I think that you get a lot of examples of Dusky-capped that are pretty easy to immediately notice the long bill and the relative drabness/monochromatic color scheme of the flight feathers. It is not 100% consistent, and there is inherently a lot of ambiguity to identifying Myiarchus sp. which is why you have yet to get a straight forward answer.

Links:
Dusky-capped
Ash-throated

 

[njlarsen]

1. Is a Western Wood Pewee. As others noted, the overall gray color, lack of eye ring, and very long primary projection are signs that it is a Contopus sp. The all black bill is a significant factor for discounting Greater Pewee, and the bill is not large enough, and the wing bars are too pronounced for Olive-sided Flycatcher.

2. Is definitely Myiarchus sp. In my opinion it’s probably an Ash-throated Flycatcher > Dusky-capped because of the rufous primary shafts, white fringed covert feathers and relatively short looking bill. Perhaps most notably, the outter retrix (tail) feather in the extra photo you provided has a brown rounded off tip that sections off the subterminal orange. This is consistent with one of the better field marks for Ash-throated Flycatcher that is highlighted in my attached photo, screen-shotted from the Sibley field guide app. I think that most of the time adult Dusky-capped will have relatively drab primary shafts, lack boldly white fringed coverts, and have a bill that is noticeably longer, but it is hard to figure out how consistent these patterns are.

In review of the Macaulay Library links below, you will find a mixture of examples of Dusky-capped Flycatchers showing different appearances, presenting a very confusing complex. Many of them do not look like they have a long bill, and have extra rufous coloring on the flight feathers, in direct challenge to my assertions. I think it is very likely that many of these photos in Macaulay Library are misidentified, but of course I don't always know for sure what I am looking at either. A good approach to figuring it out, in my opinion, is to scroll through the photos in the database and look for examples where the best field marks are clearly visible, not obscured at all, and disregard the other non ideal photos where it is more likely that the observer is guessing at the ID. Look for the best photos that show bill length, and flight feather plumage, exactly like your second photo, and look to see if there are any consistencies or not. Taking this filtered approach, I think that you get a lot of examples of Dusky-capped that are pretty easy to immediately notice the long bill and the relative drabness/monochromatic color scheme of the flight feathers. It is not 100% consistent, and there is inherently a lot of ambiguity to identifying Myiarchus sp. which is why you have yet to get a straight forward answer.

Links:
Dusky-capped
Ash-throated

Tom, he said that the third photo shows a different bird from the second photo. Therefore, they can easily be different species
Niels

 

[tom baxter]

Tom, he said that the third photo shows a different bird from the second photo. Therefore, they can easily be different species
Niels

Thanks for the clarification. I didnt pay very much attention to the first image, and should have read more carefully on the second one. I get easily distracted by bird pictures lol..... Looking at it again, the first photo appears to lack rufous primary shafts, has a bill that is suggestive of being longer, and has a very thin build overall. I think it is Dusky-capped. Hopefully my long winded, off base comment above contributes something to both ID's.

 

[sirijay]

Thank you all - I guess flycatchers are indeed difficult to ID.

 

[Ruff-Leg]

I'm still not convinced it's a DCFL. Sorry for the shorthand. I prefer to separate them by voice and habitat. I'm in Tucson, and a Myiarchus in a shrubby area nearby is more likely to be ATFL. In Madera Canyon or Florida Canyon and higher elevation? DCFL more likely. I'm not saying it's not a DCFL - it's why Myiarchus are tough without voice and location context. This is my photo of an ATFL taken in a shrubby part of Tucson, FWIW. Different lighting, obviously.