Olive-sided flycatcher, perhaps? (3 Viewers)

[thirtyguitars]

Sorry I haven't responded in a week. I've been under the weather.

First, thank you for the info. It is not an olive-sided flycatcher for sure.

Peewee or Phoebe? This is a tough call. I'm using the Audubon bird app on my ipad, and I've got an almost identical image under Eastern Wood-Pewee. The only problem is ~ I'm located slightly out of their migratory range according to Audubon. Their picture also shows a yellow bill and the bird looks grayer than my image.

I found another matching picture under Eastern Phoebe, with matching wingbars and everything. Now, Audubon says I'm very much in their summer and migratory range, and the overall color of the bird matches, not to mention it has a black bill in the guide app. (I know, that may not mean much based on the above discussion)

Sooo, considering what has been said, I am tentatively going to file this under Eastern Phoebe, erring on the side of the bird's ranges. I think the bird in my image was a bit too far away to zoom in and accurately measure the feathers.

Thanks again.

 

[nartreb]

The "range" in a book is only a guideline. I just checked three sources, one has Dalhart barely in range for phoebe only, one has it slightly out of range for both, and one has it out of normal range but in the "rare" range for both. A good photo trumps "range" any day, even when a bird is thousands of miles out of place.

The feather borders aren't 100% clear, but I trust motmot's eyes and experience here, so add primary projection to the list of factors that say it's a wood-peewee.

If you haven't seen it yet, here's a wood-peewee with an all-black bill: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/PHOTO/LARGE/pewee_carlosescamilla.jpg

Note the eye ring, head shape, overall slimness of the bird, and the dinginess of the flanks and belly. Phoebes have a cleaner white to the lower flanks, and present a rounder shape overall. True, your photo doesn't present the normal grey tones of a wood-peewee, but it's not the normal color of a phoebe either. I think your camera is trying to compensate for the blue sky by adding too much yellow, which ruins the grey tones.

 

[thirtyguitars]

Note the eye ring, head shape, overall slimness of the bird, and the dinginess of the flanks and belly. Phoebes have a cleaner white to the lower flanks, and present a rounder shape overall.

Eastern Phoebe does not have the eye ring? As for a wood peewe, have you been referring to eastern or western?

 

[thirtyguitars]

Barking up wrong Flycatcher family tree?

Cornell's allaboutbirds.org says Eastern Pewee has "No eyering or only a faint one", and then it says "Distinguished from Empidonax flycatchers by weak, broken eyering and dirty smudging under tail."

Cornell's website mentions nothing about an eye ring under Phoebe.

Audubon says "Empidonax flycatchers are smaller and usually have noticeable eye ring" under their discussion on the Peewee.

Does eye ring in my photo indicate we have been looking at the wrong family of flycatchers, perhaps?

 

[nartreb]

Both phoebes and wood-pewees have a subtle eye ring that may or may not be visible in any given photograph, but the wood-peewee's is larger. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it, as it's not very reliable. There are certain subtleties in eye-ring shape (like how thick the ring is in front of the eye) that suggest wood-peewee to me in your photo, but I wouldn't stake much on one photo - could be a trick of the light.

I don't think yours is an empidonax - eye ring not bright enough, head too dark, head-body proportion not right. But I could be wrong.

I'm not capable of telling an eastern wood-peewee from a western by sight, so that distinction isn't relevant to this thread