Flycatcher ID question
Darroch Whitaker
Anthony, and the following day I had an encounter that made me wonder
if I'd mis-identified it. In both cases I heard the birds but because
I was running a BBS and so time was of the essence didn't have time to
search them out for a visual ID. The details follow, if anybody has
any thoughts please reply to the group so we can all learn something.
The St. Anthony bird was calling rapidly and incessantly for the
entire 3 minutes I was at my stop, time would have been ~5 AM in the
morning "che-bek....che-bek....che-bek..." at intervals of ~1 to 1.5
seconds, though it did pause for a few seconds occasionally and the
interval between calls sometimes varied a bit, but was still always
much more rapid then I have ever heard a yellow bellied flycatcher
call. I presumed this was least flycatcher because I certainly
remember them calling incessantly and rapidly like this from my time
in Virginia, and when I listened to recordings later it certainly
seemed like a perfect match.
No problem right. Then the next morning I ran my Roddickton BBS route
and at one of my early stops, again about 5 AM, I heard 2 flycatchers
counter-calling to each other and they sounded just like the bird I
had heard the day before, rapid "che-bek....che-bek....che-bek..."
though in this case with more pauses and sometimes a little bit
slower, maybe intervals of as much as 2 seconds (maybe due to the
other bird?). That of course made me second guess myself, is it
possible that our common old yellow-bellied flycatchers sometimes call
rapidly and incessantly like that early in the morning? Or are least
flycatchers becomming somewhat common in the area? I haven't head them
Yellow-bellied Flycatchers calling rapidly before but that doesn't
mean they don't and they were certainly common on both routes (...and
calling at their usual sluggish, erratic intervals). Both sites were
rich, mixed forest edges and the St. Anthony bird was calling frm the
low midstory. Not sure for the Roddickton birds because they were
farther from the road.
Any feedback is appreciated
Darroch
Dave Fifield
Anne H. and Paul L. were with me at the time, so they might remember
it too). At first we thought it was a Least but eventually saw it and
it was clearly a Yellow-belly (it may have starting singing the
regular YBFL song too - can't remember now).
I have a recording that I'll put up on a website.
Cheers,
Dave
Jeff Siddall
wrote:
Hey Darroch,
Similar story on my Buchans BBS route on July 3. I was surprised to
hear Least Flycatchers in there, but I had 2 separate individuals, one
at stop 3 and one at stop 5, both before 5:30am, along mixed forest
edges. When I heard the first one I wondered if it could've been a
Yellow-bellied singing like a Least, but it was pretty distinctive,
and it kept singing (just like a Least) for nearly the entire time I
was at the stop. Same thing with the second one. There were also 2
Alder Flycatchers at stop 5, but then I didn't have either species
after this stop at all. Lots of YBFL all along the route.
I tried to see if LEFL had ever been recorded on this route, but am so
far unable to view the historical data on my Mac. There was a group
of LEFL south of Stephenville the week before this... which probably
isn't as unusual as Buchans would be-- just some more info on LEFL in
the province this year.
Probably not a huge help, but there it is.
Cheers,
Jeff
Todd Boland
days ago, about 5:20 am I had what i thought was a least fly in Trout
River....rapid che-bek...when I finally saw the bird it was a yellow-
bellied.....must be a morning thing!
Todd B.
tina leonard
first 4 points, i had rapid che-beks and at next 3 had slower, more
drawn-out che-beks. didn't see any of the birds at any stop, but
called birds at the first 4 stops YBFL until i heard the brids at the
next 3 stops, at which point i decided the first 4 stops must`ve been
LEFL and the next 3 YBFL. perhaps i need to send a note to BBS, since
i`ve submitted my data....
t
Dave
separable based on the intensity,speed,consistency and quality of
call. In my experience YBFL always seem a little louder and more
explosive than LEFL and their che-beks are often squeakier. The
standard call is usually more obviously two-sylabelled, whereas
sometimes LEFL just sounds like BENK rather then CHE-BEK and to me
normally has a somewhat more buzy quality.
Like others I've also heard FBFL's call repeatedly and frequently
early in the morning ( and at other times) but they rarely, if ever
continue calling as rapidly in succession as any LEFL and they will
usually toss out a higher pitched or more squeaky CHE-BEK or whistled
chewee at some point. Least Flycatchers just give rapid fire CHE-BEKS
and will do so for extended periods of time.In my experience far
longer than even the most hyper Yellow-bellied Flycatcher.
So basically for me YBFL is louder, squeakier, less consistent and
slower ( more time between the CHE and the BEK as well as between
successive calls)
Of course,habitat cues are important as well,since both occupy
somewhat different habitats. If your in the understory of a lush
hardwood or mixed forest Least would be much more likley that if you
standing on the edge of a Black Spruce bog!
Here are links to the dawn song of a pretty excited YBFL and a
standard LEFL
YBFL http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/100879
LEFL http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/7639
Cheers,
Dave Brown
Darroch Whitaker
from it is that I have to start paying a bit more attention to
flycatcher calls because its not cut and dried. I did take a quick
read through the Birds of North America species accounts and it does
indicate that an enthusiastic Yellow-belly might call as frequently as
12 times / minute (5 sec intervals) while singing Leasts often call at
a rate of 48-60 times / min (1-1.2 sec intervals). Listening to the
song links Dave posted the bird I heard in St. Anthony was way faster
then Yellow-belly and a dead match for the Least, making me wish I had
gotten a look at it. I'm not so sure about the two counter-singing
Roddickton birds - like I said they were much more variable.
Best
Darroch
Dave Fifield
http://sonicwings.net/birds/flycatchers/YBFL/YBFL.htm. This one was
recorded in mixed-deciduous/conifer habitat at Head Bay D'Espoir in
2002. It's call is even faster than the the one in the Macaulay
library that Dave Brown posted a link to, but is still lower in pitch
and less squeeky than LEFL.
SonicWings is a site I designed several years ago in order to showcase
Newfoundland and Labrador bird photos and sound recordings. Only a few
species have been added so far (mostly seabirds), but I have a back-
log of sounds and photos to add someday. Contributions of high quality
photos and sound recordings from others are welcomed (all
contributions are credited to the photographer/recordist and
copyright remains with them).
Cheers,
Dave
Darroch Whitaker
say I wish I'd had time to chase them down for a look.
DW
Jeff Siddall
wrote:
> hmmm... That does sound a lot more like the birds I heard... Like I
> say I wish I'd had time to chase them down for a look.
>
> DW
I agree-- that's a pretty good recording, and it sounds quite a bit
like what I thought must've been a LEFL when I was on my route. I'm
definitely not certain about the birds I heard, so I'm removing them
from my BBS list. Now I want to go out in search of singing YBFL!
Thanks for bringing this whole discussion up Darroch.
Cheers,
Jeff