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May 31, 2018 Cuenca, Ecuador birds (1 Viewer)

howiewu

Well-known member
Hi,

I took these pictures in Cuenca, Ecuador on May 31, 2018.

My thoughts are:

1. A flycatcher, but which one? The closest I could narrow down to is Pale-edged Flycatcher ...
2. Croaking Ground Dove?
3. A blackbird, maybe Scrub Blackbird again? But it seems that Cuenca is out of its range ...
4 & 5: male and female of the same species? Blue-and-yellow Tanager?

What do you think?

Thanks in advance,
Howard
 

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I'm not convinced it is pale-edged. Reasons are: this species is rather cold-toned without the rufous, greenish etc we see here (especially in the wing). Crest appears less pronounced compared to alternatives (and to this bird), edges of tail are not clearly pale here, and (for some reason) pale-edged doesn't seem to appear on the ebirds Azuay list. Instead I'd propose short-crested which does and which has some rufous in the tail although this is a lowland species and not perhaps expected. Great-crested might be an even better match but this should be even rarer here I believe. Dusky-capped is more common but I don't think this is dusky-capped enough
 
I'm not convinced it is pale-edged. Reasons are: this species is rather cold-toned without the rufous, greenish etc we see here (especially in the wing). Crest appears less pronounced compared to alternatives (and to this bird), edges of tail are not clearly pale here, and (for some reason) pale-edged doesn't seem to appear on the ebirds Azuay list. Instead I'd propose short-crested which does and which has some rufous in the tail although this is a lowland species and not perhaps expected. Great-crested might be an even better match but this should be even rarer here I believe. Dusky-capped is more common but I don't think this is dusky-capped enough

Hi, thanks!

I had considered Dusky-capped and Short-crested.

What struck me the most at the time, and as can be seen in the picture, is how dark gray its head and crest were, and how overall its color seemed to have a cold greenish tone.

I don't think it is Great-crested which I am familiar with and which has an overall very warm tone and some brown or rufous tone is it crest. Visually, I think Dusky-capped fits the best, but its distribution seems to exclude the highlands:
https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/ducfly/overview

Short-crested seems to also have a warmer tone (I know visual is not always reliable with flycatchers), and the distribution also seems to be further east:
https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/shcfly1/overview

So I am not sure. Any more suggestions?
 
Yes to Croaking GD and Blue-and-yellow Tan.

For me the Myiarchus is Dusky-capped. Such a blackish cool toned cap and a dark cheek which doesn’t contrast the cap really screams Dusky-capped to me. The bird doesn’t seem large and th bill is smallish, which fit. Bummer we can’t see the undertail better.

For the blackbird/cowbird my first impression was Shiny Cowbird but looking at th bill more I might lean more towards Scrub Blackbird. I’ve seen both in Cuenca. Not super confident though.
 
re: flycatcher. these are variable and difficult, esp. from the one image. Suppose it depends whether you think it's more like this:

https://www.hbw.com/ibc/photo/short-crested-flycatcher-myiarchus-ferox/adult-bird-perched-frontal-view

or this:

https://www.hbw.com/ibc/photo/dusky-capped-flycatcher-myiarchus-tuberculifer/perched-branch

Ebird maps suggest neither exactly in Cuenca, although each are "fairly" near. As I said before, dusky-capped is more likely on range. I think to be definitive you'd want more photos. I'd want a proper profile shot to decide finally about the cap/cheek. For me it looks more like the first of the 2 links but I understand how one might go for the second. Again, for me, bill is more like short-crested but wouldn't bet my life on it. In contrast to you two, I see the bird as quite colourful, and any muted tones as being due to the quality of the light (see e.g. the foliage colours)
 
Two disclaimers: I usually try not to answer flycatcher questions and I do not have any books for that region at the moment. However, I feel I have to raise one issue: in most of its range, Dusky capped has brown edges to both primaries and secondaries while this bird has pale edges to the secondaries (even if the primaries do show brown). Is that different for birds in Ecuador? Secondly, I see the bill as rather strong for DCF

Niels
 
Hi, thanks for all the enlightening discussions.

I do have some other pictures of the flycatcher, I am attaching another one (others were taken from similar positions).

Does this help at all?
 

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The Myiarchus is definitely interesting. This morning I was looking on my phone while taking the subway across town so I'm going to try to ignore my initial jizz-based impression and take a better look.

No Myiarchus is expected in Cuenca. Which means this is either a local vagrant or a long distance migrant, so habitat and expectations don't matter as much.

I agree the coloration looks off for Pale-edged. The lack of mousy / brown tone in the cap and the greenish shade on the back do not point at that species. The literature I have handy and can find online seem to point at Pale-edged having concolor back and cap.

It looks generally ok for Short-crested, structure wise, but color is a bit cool / gray toned. It's just two photos, and color is hard to interpret sometimes. However, even if you take the cap and cheek color to be ok and just a lighting effect, the back is quite green/olive toned and all the verifiable photos I find show a more dusky / mouse-colored back that matches the color of the cap.

When you get to Dusky-capped it gets more confusing. You have three subspecies in the area - the Western lowland birds are nigriceps, the S Andean birds (and continuing down into Peru and Bolivia) are atriceps, and Amazonian birds are nominate tuberculifer. I think atriceps would be the expected species here. The cap color and the greenish cast on the back actually looks pretty good for me for atriceps as well.

Here's a photo of atriceps that shows the back color well:
https://www.hbw.com/ibc/photo/dusky-capped-flycatcher-myiarchus-tuberculifer/perched-lateral-view

I think the photos are amply good enough to rule out Brown-crested Flycatcher (cap color, lack of rufous in flight feathers). I think Great-crested would be extremely unlikely and the lack of pale base to the bill and lack of rufous flight feathers rules that species out.

Dusky-capped has a lot of subspecific variation. I don't know, Niels, if the strong pale fringing on the secondaries is really problematic. It doesn't look too far out of what I see on photos that are verifiably atriceps from the highlands of Peru, Bolivia, and N Argentina.

So I am still leaning towards Dusky-capped but would love to hear more discussion or be shown to be wrong!

Cheers,
Josh
 
Dusky-capped has a lot of subspecific variation. I don't know, Niels, if the strong pale fringing on the secondaries is really problematic. It doesn't look too far out of what I see on photos that are verifiably atriceps from the highlands of Peru, Bolivia, and N Argentina.

It may just be that this character is different in Ecuadorian subspecies than in Panama and north of there. I left my SA books in Dominica when evacuated and have not gotten them moved here - where I am only temporarily.

Niels
 
To me this Myiarchus looks best for a Sooty-crowned Flycatcher. Head colours and greenish back look good to my eyes. Bill size/shape, wing-feathers margins, tail colours, all seem to fit too. Not sure if it can be found in the Cuenca area itself but if I have to put a name on this bird Sooty-crowned looks the best candidate to me.
 
I had, embarrassingly, forgotten about Sooty-crowned... I agree Sooty-crowned looks like a good fit. I am still not sure I would ID with certainty but I think Sooty-crowned and atriceps Dusky-capped are the most likely fits. Perhaps structure looks better for Sooty-crowned but Dusky-capped is more likely on range?
 
Thanks again, guys. I've entered my report to eBird, with the flycatcher under Sooty-crowned. I also reported the Fulvous Whistling-ducks (which other had reported before). Hopefully there will be some local reviewers who will review/confirm.
 
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