[MASSBIRD] Western Kingbird, details

[Jeffrey Offermann]

Massbirders,

 

Details on the Western Kingbird from Cherry Hill Reservoir today (11-25-2011) are below. I also found a Thick-billed Murre from lot one at Plum Island. I'll have to wait a bit to post details about that sighting as I have an appointment, so stay tuned!!

 

Cherry Hill Reservoir, Essex, US-MA

Nov 25, 2011 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM

Protocol: Area

3.0 ac

Comments:     Acting on a tip from Paul Ruvino whom I met at PRNWR told me he had had a possible WEKI here, I went and searched for it, found it, confirmed it and photographed it!

23 species

 

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)  8

Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)  16

Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)  15

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)  7

Common Merganser (Mergus merganser)  12

Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis)  130

Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)  1

Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)  1

Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)  4

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)  6

Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)  2

Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)  1

 

Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis)  1     See http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S9193209

 

Or go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_offermann/sets/72157628150289937/

 

 

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)  6

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)  9

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)  1

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)  16

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)  1

European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)  30

Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)  1

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  2

House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)  4

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)  2

 

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

 

--

Jeffrey Offermann

Somerville

offerman...@gmail.com

[Eric]

Are we sure this isn't a Cassin's Kingbird?

 

Eric Labato

Malden, MA

ela...@verizon.net

[Jeffrey Offermann]

I'll post clearer pictures when I get out of work. It actually had a quite white throat. A trick of the light and the posture of the bird gives an impression of a white malar in some photos. In almost all photos a very black and contrasty tail  with white outer webs to the outer-most retrices is visible. There is no light brown fringe to the tail tip. I wish it weren't so! I would love to be proved wrong. Stand by! I'll get more shots up soon as I can. 

Jeffrey Offermann 

Somerville 

offerman...@gmail.com

Sent from my iPhone

[Joshua Stuart Rose]

Eric, you're not the only one who suspects that, a few of us have been having a lively off-list exchange about Jeff's photos. How many records of Cassin's are there from Massachusetts?

JSR

Joshua Stuart Rose
op...@mindspring.com
Amherst MA

http://www.facebook.com/opihi
http://bugguide.net/user/view/2399

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric
Sent: Nov 25, 2011 5:26 PM
To: Jeffrey Offermann , Massbird
Subject: Re: [MASSBIRD] Western Kingbird, details

Are we sure this isn't a Cassin's Kingbird?

 

Eric Labato

Malden, MA

ela...@verizon.net

 

From: Jeffrey Offermann

Sent: Friday, November 25, 2011 4:23 PM

To: Massbird

Subject: [MASSBIRD] Western Kingbird, details

Massbirders,

 

Details on the Western Kingbird from Cherry Hill Reservoir today (11-25-2011) are below. I also found a Thick-billed Murre from lot one at Plum Island. I'll have to wait a bit to post details about that sighting as I have an appointment, so stay tuned!!

 

Cherry Hill Reservoir, Essex, US-MA

Nov 25, 2011 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM

Protocol: Area

3.0 ac

Comments:     Acting on a tip from Paul Ruvino whom I met at PRNWR told me he had had a possible WEKI here, I went and searched for it, found it, confirmed it and photographed it!

 

 

Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis)  1     See http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S9193209

 

Or go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_offermann/sets/72157628150289937/

Joshua Stuart Rose
op...@mindspring.com
Amherst MA

http://www.facebook.com/opihi
http://bugguide.net/user/view/2399

[Glenn d'Entremont]

I brought up this exact question the first time I saw it. It was brief, saw a very gray chest with what appeared to be a limited white area in the malar area. I turned to get Jeff's attention as he had not seen it during his vigil there. Once we were able to study it clearly showed a black tail with white on the outer webs of the outer tail feathers, the chin and throat where white, the wing coverts were dark and lightly fringed (not really contrasty) and the back was olive and contrasted with the gray nape. The bird appeared to maybe be in fresh plumage as some of the tail feathers showed the very tips light browny and the feathers of the wing showed pale fringes-only seen when looking through a scope in strong light. The crown was paler gray which isolated the blackish eye line; my recollection of Cassin's is the head is much darker with the eye line not standing out as much. The brightness of this bird makes me think it was an adult and we probably do not get a lot !
of those. I do not know the timing of adult moult; whether they do it before or after fall migration.

Glenn

Glenn d'Entremont: gdentr...@comcast.net Stoughton, MA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeffrey Offermann" <offerman...@gmail.com>
To: "Eric" <ela...@verizon.net>
Cc: "Massbird" <mass...@world.std.com>
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2011 5:28:08 PM
Subject: Re: [MASSBIRD] Western Kingbird, details