Empid ID - MT, USA (1 Viewer)

janinmt · Aug 9, 2015

This was taken Friday, 8/7/15, on Moose Creek Trail, Humbug Spires, Silver Bow County, Montana, USA. The bird was really yellow on the belly, which doesn't show up so well on the photo with all the green in the background. It did not vocalize. There were 3 of them with the same yellow bellies, short primary projections & all yellow, good-sized bills (the all yellow bill is the part that is confusing me...).

What are your thoughts? I am thinking Cordilleran.

Thanks,

Jan in MT

RJP · Aug 9, 2015

In the plus column for Cordilleran is the yellow-ish belly, the long tail, and the eye-ring - which was hard to see because of the lighting in that area, but expanding the pic helped and it looks right - minimal at the front but wider at the back. In the minus column is the head shape - looks very round with no crest. The all light bill is a puzzlement to me as well. What was the habitat like? In particular, was it dry? The high elevation of 7000+ feet of that area is good for Cordilleran but could also fit others.

As Dusky and Hammond's are pretty much ruled out by the bill color, Cordilleran seems like the best fit, but I like to hear more about the habitat.

janinmt · Aug 9, 2015

This was a riparian creek bottom habitat with willows, surrounded by drier forest - a really nice hike. The climate there is pretty dry overall. Moose Creek runs into the Big Hole River near Melrose, MT. The Big Hole River is a really nice trout stream in south western Montana and runs through some pretty dry country.

janinmt · Aug 9, 2015

More photos of the same bird.

Here are a couple more photos of the same bird.

RJP · Aug 10, 2015

OK. The habitat throws some doubt into it, as Willow becomes a possibility. I keep seeing different amounts of eye ring on the different pics - maybe it's just the lighting. I guess I would stick with Cordilleran as most likely, but not with high confidence. It would be good to hear some other opinions ...

Tiraya · Aug 10, 2015

It doesn't really look like willow to me, unless they are different looking over in the east.

Cordilleran's close twin Pacific-slope loves riparian and wet habitats so I don't see why this one wouldn't occasionally show up there too.

Jeff Hopkins · Aug 10, 2015

Silverwolf said:
It doesn't really look like willow to me, unless they are different looking over in the east.

Cordilleran's close twin Pacific-slope loves riparian and wet habitats so I don't see why this one wouldn't occasionally show up there too.

Too much eye-ring for a willow here in the east.

I'm not seeing the strong triangular eye triangle behind the eye like a pac-slope. Does Cordilleran have that?

RJP · Aug 10, 2015

Jeff hopkins said:
I'm not seeing the strong triangular eye triangle behind the eye like a pac-slope. Does Cordilleran have that?

Jeff - it's supposed to. The eye ring on this bird gave me trouble. In the pic at the top of the thread, if you blow it up, I think it may show the right pattern, but the back of it is in shadow, so it doesn't show there. In the other two pics further down, the one on the left - the eye ring doesn't look OK for a Cordilleran. In the pic on the right, however, it kinda does.

However, if you assume the light bill rules out Dusky and Hammond's, you start to run out of candidate empids pretty quickly! This area, BTW, is way down in the SW corner of Montana, bordering Idaho.

janinmt · Aug 11, 2015

The eye ring isn't right for Cordilleran, but it is more eye ring than Willow Flycatchers typically show. The bill is more yellow than either species. Does anyone know if juvenile Cordilleran or juvenile Willow Flycatchers have lighter colored upper mandibles than adults? I have been looking for juvenile photos online, but not finding many examples. (And actually this bird didn't seem to be the fluffy fledgling type at all - it may be an adult instead of a juvenile.)

The pronounced yellow belly is why I am leaning towards Cordilleran over Willow. They were very yellow in the field. The eye ring, rounded head shape and all yellow bill don't seem to fit either species.

Confusing!

Jan in MT

janinmt · Aug 11, 2015

Humbug Spires

Here is a photo of the area where I saw the Empids and where I took the pictures - Humbug Spires, Moose Creek Trail Head, Silver Bow County, southwest of Butte, MT. The same kind of rock formations are seen on the continental divide on I-90 when you go over Homestake Pass just southeast of Butte. (If you look closely, you can see my 2 daughters high up on the rocks. This is what they like to do instead of birding with their parents!)

Empid ID - MT, USA (1 Viewer)

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