Participant Photo: Mystery Flycatcher
Additional images:
This flycatcher showed up singing loud and flicking it’s tail. Chasing bugs in the tree. I thought it was an Ash-throated by the calls, “pip, pip, pipit, purreeer”. Quite large and bold. But it flicked it’s tail ALOT and has a curved tip on it’s beak like a Brown-crested Flycatcher. So, once again, I cannot seem to get a correct ID. Sibley’s guide says Ash-throated don’t flick their tails. I don’t think I will ever learn to ID these birds!
Categories: Other
Tags: flycatcher
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2 comments on “Participant Photo: Mystery Flycatcher”
Hi Eva, We’re learning towards an Ash-throated Flycatcher. They are more common in your area and this one has a few marks, such as the paler underbelly and dark-tipped tail feathers, which point to Ash-throated. Brown-crested Flycatchers spend more of their time in the tropics, and while not unheard of in your area, they are less common. Brown-crested flycatchers have a deeper yellow on the underbelly, and the dark marking on their tails run lengthwise on the edges, rather than along the bottom of the feathers (i.e. the rufous color runs to the tip of the tail feathers unlike Ash-throated). Their habitats overlap in some places and their songs can be variable, so it’s definitely a hard species to ID!
Ahhhh! Thank you so much, Holly! Appreciate the ID and insight!