Willow Flycatcher at Caw Caw

[gcrumley@InfoAve.Net]

Willow Flycatcher at the Caw Caw Interpretive Center
Perry E. Nugent

     For several years I have been seeing an Epidomax flycatcher 
that is brownish gray with little or no eye ring, , has two wing bars, 
sometimes a very pale yellow belly, flicks its tail upward and back 
down slowly, and orange-yellow lower mandible.  Occasionally, it 
sings fitz-bew, but most often calls wit, white or a rising weep.  
According to everything I read about these difficult to identify 
flycatchers what we are seeing are Willow Flycatchers.
     Several times I have seen these flycatchers near Acadian 
Flycatchers that were singing Peetsa. which in no way sounded 
like whit or weep.  Once, on a Caw Caw birdwalk with 8 people, we 
found one of these brown flycatcher sitting on a low branch about 
15-20 feet from an Acadian.  The brownish one was calling wit and 
weep while the other was calling peetsa.  They never did interact 
even though they could obviously see and hear each other.  On 
6/29/2001 I saw an immature Acadian get beat up by one of these 
browner flycatchers.
     My experience with Willow Flycatchers in South Carolina began 
shortly after they were split from the Alder.  A friend from New 
Hampshire, who is one of the best birders I know, has been a 
regional compiler for American Birds , and was on the board of 
directors of the American Birding Association, was birding with me 
in Fairlawn Plantation, Charleston County, S.C. He had some 
experience with Willow Flycatchers in New England.  We were 
walking along the main road in the plantation when we saw a 
brownish gray flycatcher flicking its tail up and back down slowly.  
It did not call.  We walked further along and came to two brownish 
flycatchers that were carrying nesting mat4rial to a thicket at the 
edge of a swamp.  They were singing fitz-bew as they worked.   
Once, one of them sang fitz-bew and then fee-bee-o twice.  There 
were two Acadian Flycatcher building a nest high in a tree across 
the path from where the other  two birds were.  My friend said the 
two fitz-bew singers were Willow Flycatcher.  We could not find the 
nest. 

     Later, I was conducting a spring migration count in Caw Caw 
when I heard a bird calling fitz-bew.  We found two  brownish 
Epidomax flycatchers singing fitz-bew as they built a nest in a low 
branch of a Live Oak.  Two days later we found the nest destroyed 
and the flycatchers gone.  

     Since then we have seen several flycatchers of a similar 
description.   In the spring 2000 we had a pair of brownish gray 
Epidomax flycatchers near our slave settlement area singing fitz-
bew, but mostly wit or weep.  Later we saw them feeding two 
fledglings.  This year we have seen simular flycatcher in two 
locations and on 6/27/2001 saw 4 of these birds, two that were 
young.  They were singing wit or weep.  

     As most birders know, Epidomax flycatchers are very difficult to 
identify.  There are several species that look very much alike.  They 
are separated by calls.  I find that most guides describe the calls 
somewhat different and when I listen to these birds they have 
considerable variation in their calls.  I am not convinced that there 
are really differences in these species and the slight differences 
that according to the latest thinking makes these flycatchers 
separate species, may be nothing more than normal variation 
within one species.  I think that some brave birder will do DNA 
analysis and find many of them are not different and that there are 
fewer species of Epidomax flycatchers than we think.  

     In the meantime, I will have to go along with my friend from New 
Hampshire and call these brownish gray flycatchers Willow unless 
someone can show me they are not.

-----

     Perry Nugent, author of the comments above, has given me 
permission to forward them to Carolina Birds.


George Crumley
Charleston, SC
gcrumley@InfoAve.Net