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More expert comments on Pacific-slope Flycatcher



Attached are additional comments on the problem of using call notes to
ID Western flycatchers.

Harry L.

--
Harry E. LeGrand, Jr.
N.C. Natural Heritage Program
Division of Parks and Recreation
1615 MSC
Raleigh, NC 27699-1615

Office: (919) 715-8687
Home: (919) 832-3202
FAX: (919) 715-3085
e-mail: harry.legrand@ncmail.net
http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/nhp/index.html



Harry,

I would like to echo the comments of Joe Morlan and Tom Crabtree on your
"Western" Flycatcher. Yes, the MPN does sound like a "typical" PSFC, but
does that really mean anything? For several years I've been convinced that
PSFC should occur in Utah during migration, and was actively searching for
one. I've largely abandoned that quest, since I've become convinced that it
is impossible to positively identify (in the field) a PSFC away from the
breeding grounds. I don't know if the same is true for COFC.

Joe's post from 1997 refers to the problem presented by COFC in the Warner
Mtns. of Oregon, which can give a PSFC MPN. Let me expand that problem a
bit further east. Two years ago, I recorded a "Western" Flycatcher in Big
Cottonwood Canyon, near Salt Lake City, which was not giving the typical,
two-part MPN of COFC, but was giving the single, upslurred (Johnson's
"sinusoidal") MPN of the PSFC. I never heard it give a COFC call in over an
hour of observation at that time, nor on two return visits over the next
few days. The problem was that this was in June, during the height of the
breeding season - and we are hundreds of miles from any known PSFC breeding
range. Since then, I have recorded one other individual, and heard at least
four others at various locations in northern Utah, which were also giving
the upslurred, single-note call during the breeding season. Some of these
(but not all) also gave the two-part MPN typical of COFC. The calls of
these birds are (to my ears) indistinguishable from the call of your NC
bird.

If you want to "get it right," I think you should simply call it a
"Western" Flycatcher, and leave it at that. I would also be skeptical of
the "pattern" of PSFC occurrence along the East Coast which you mentioned
in your later post. Without a specimen, I don't think any PSFC record
outside of the breeding range can be substantiated, including in places
like AZ, NM, and TX. While guiding a tour last week in west Mexico, our
group saw many "Western" Flycatchers, only one of which called for us. It
gave the typical PSFC MPN, and went on our list as another "Western."

I guess I have to agree with Tom Crabtree (and apparently others in the
northwest) that this was not a very good split.

Mark Stackhouse
Westwings, Inc.
1432 Downington Ave.
Salt Lake City, UT 84105
(801) 487-9453
westwings@sisna.com