Help with Brazilian birds (Part 9) (1 Viewer)

Hi all,

Here are some pictures taken this weekend of some unsolved mysteries:

1 & 2 - Taken in an urban area (São Paulo city) near a small park. The couple often flew off to catch some insects, making acrobatic movements, and then perched on the same place (this TV antenna). I believe they are Cliff Flycatchers (Hirundinea ferruginea), but wanted confirmation, please.

3 & 4 - Seen in a restaurant near a road in Ourinhos, SP. We stopped there when going to and coming from Londrina. This one was photographed at the frist stop. At the time, I thought it was a Common Tody Flycatcher (Todirostrum cinereum) and, as I had not much time, I forgot to check the lore region, which would avoid confusiton with Yellow-lored Tody Flycatcher (T. poliocephalum). I just considered it a Common then. The problem is that on the second stop, two days later, I have seen and photographed (see here: http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/158669/limit/recent) a Yellow-lored Tody Flycatcher just in that same restaurant.

5 - Seen in a Arthur Thomas Park in Londrina, Paraná state, S Brazil. It has quite a good Atlantic Forest area (total area of the park, including non-forested area, is 85,47 ha), especially considering its location, very near to the city centre. Anyway, this one was seen outside the highly forested area, just near a lake. No idea what it is.

(6) - No photos of this one. In the top of some trees in the forested area of the same park, I have seen a couple of birds, one green with some yellow and the other blue with a black mask. At the time, I was quite sure they were Swallow Tanagers (Tersina viridis), but after reading in Aves da Grande São Paulo field guide (Develey & Endrigo) that they only occur in SE Brazil (which includes São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo states) in the first half of the year, I got confused. Although Paraná is located in S Brazil (Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul states), Londrina is in N Paraná, very near south-east. Do you think they were Swallow Tanager nonetheless?

Thanks in advance.

1 & 2) You're right.
3 & 4) Common TF. In addition to the commonly mentioned lores, try checking the undertail the next time you see the two species, and you'll notice another feature that easily separates the two.
5) Sub-ad. male Crested Becard.
6) If they looked like Swallow Tanagers then they probably were Swallow Tanagers (not really anything that distinctive species could be confused with under normal circumstances). The movements of this species are not entirely predictable and they have a tendency to "errupt", sometimes being very common in one region for a period, then, seemingly without reason and logical pattern, disappearing for a period.

jocateme said:

The problem is that on the second stop, two days later, I have seen and photographed (see here: http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/158669/limit/recent) a Yellow-lored Tody Flycatcher just in that same restaurant.

Click to expand...

And I just checked the link. That's a Common, not a Yellow-lored. Some Common show yellow lores, but never as extensive as in the Yellow-lored. That's what you've got there, a Common with yellow lores. Two things separates it from the true Yellow-lored:
1) The Yellow-lored has, as just mentioned, more extensive yellow to the lores.
2) As noted in my earlier post, the undertail also is quite a useful feature. The Common has white tipping (typically quite distinct from below, but often not visible from above), which the Yellow-lored lacks.

Unfortunately, field guides only ever seem to mention the lores, and as they typically also fail to mention that a few Common show some yellow to the lores, one can only wonder how commonly these birds are mis-identified.

Here are two photos from the gallery showing a real Yellow-lored:
* http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=125383
* http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=41231

Try comparing the size of yellow lores and the undertail pattern with the bird on the photo you linked to. I've edited the title of your photo in the gallery, and added a link to this thread. Yours wasn't the only one, as a fast search in the BF gallery actually revealed another Common with yellow lores that was mis-ID'ed as a Yellow-lored...

Many thanks Rasmus! Your tips were very, very useful! I just can't believe that a Common Tody Flycatcher can have a yellow lore, while having a congener called YELLOW-LORED Tody Flycatcher. Very interesting... Does this mean something, i.e. age or sex or breeding time?

Thanks for the IDs of the other birds, too (especially the very specific one in #5)

Regards