In a really nice example of how this list serves as institutional memory for our community, Dave Klauber just reminded me of this very relevant post from Joe DiCostanzo, from December 2014. It details the foundation of the wing pattern feature mentioned in the Whatbird discussions, and I would agree that this feature also favors Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.
It's not fun to admit this, but the things I learn nowadays don't stick with me to nearly the same degree as the things I learned before, say 2000! So n.b. to those whose brains are still limber: don't put off learning until later, front-load the data hoarding as much as possible! ________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Joe DiCostanzo <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2014 7:24 PM To: NYSBirds Subject: [nysbirds-l] New Empidonax identification tip Just got the current issue of the Journal of Field Ornithology (vol. 85, no. 4, December 2014). I figure this is not a journal that most birders check for ID articles so I thought I would draw attention to an article in it: “Simple technique for distinguishing Yellow-bellied Flycatchers from Cordilleran and Pacific-slope flycatchers by M. J. Baumann, S. C. Galen, N. D. Pederson and C. C. Witt. Pp. 391-396. Anyone interested should read the article for all the details, many of which involve measurements that can only be done in the hand, but there is one character that can be used to distinguish Yellow-bellied Flycatcher from “Western Flycatcher” (the complex composed of Cordilleran and Pacific-slope flys.). It involves the space on the folded wing between the lower wing bar and the start of the pale fringes on the secondaries. This space is much larger in the Yellow-bellied than in the “Western”. I pulled out a few field guides from my bookshelf to see if it was distinguishable in published illustrations. I found it was apparent in the photos in Kenn Kaufman’s Birds of North America (at least in the first edition that I have). It was also obvious in Dave Sibley’s paintings of these species in his Second Edition of the Sibley Guide to Birds (I didn’t check the first edition). The authors of the Journal of Field Ornithology article tested their technique on 113 museum specimens that had been identified based on locality. They found their technique correctly place 112 of the specimens. One specimen labeled as a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher that had been collected in Illinois was identified as a “Western Flycatcher” by their technique. Amazingly, when the mtDNA of this specimen was examined, the specimen proved to be a “Western Flycatcher”, the first for the complex for Illinois! Distinguishing a Yellow-bellied Fly from a “Western Fly” has not come up yet in New York, but hey, you never know. Joe DiCostanzo www.greatgullisland.org<http://www.greatgullisland.org/> www.inwoodbirder.blogspot.com<http://www.inwoodbirder.blogspot.com> [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zlSALCVoYnM/U0SFqj6uWfI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/xYjr3pf15r0/s80/Joe.jpg]<http://www.inwoodbirder.blogspot.com/> Inwood Birder<http://www.inwoodbirder.blogspot.com/> www.inwoodbirder.blogspot.com A very pretty morning in the Ramble for my Thursday morning AMNH bird walk group. It would have been an even prettier morning if there had been more birds around! -- NYSbirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
