Re: Dusky Flycatchers (was: Empid question)
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýHi Wayne, ? Thanks so much for such detailed information ¨C your data and records going back to the 60¡¯s are truly impressive. With technology and the advent of repositories like eBird, people forget that it¡¯s only through dedicated written records like yours that we have so much data on the trends of the world¡¯s birds ¨C outstanding work, thank you. ? I absolutely love separating Empids in the hand and have spent hours collecting photographs and compiling measurement and wing morphology data. The definitive keys to separating Dusky from Hammond¡¯s in the hand, as I know you know, is the short primary projection, the evenly spaced primary tip spacing, p10 being shorter than p4 and I always added that the outer edge of the outer rectrix (r6) was contrastingly white which I thought was definitive but this last feature wasn¡¯t the case with the two birds yesterday, which shows there is always something to learn! ? We have banded 5 of the Empid species thus far at Colony Farm; Willow, Dusky, Hammond¡¯s, Least and Pacific-slope and keep hoping for a stray Yellow-bellied to show up! I¡¯ve been very close to calling Alder but, as you also know, separating those from Willow involves a complex formula of all the measurements ¨C I¡¯m sure we¡¯ve had one and we flag any Willow with wing chords over 70mm and body mass over 13.5 grams for a closer look. I¡¯m convinced that the odd one must make its way down the coast given the breeding range is really not that far away. ? As for our Duskys, it¡¯s so interesting that the increase in numbers this year has coincided with one of the coldest, wettest springs on record for a species whose habitat preference is the drier, chapparal habitat of the Interior! ? Thanks again and thanks for your kind comments about VARC. ? Take care and good birding. ? Derek ? ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Wayne Weber
Sent: May 14, 2022 10:31 PM To: VANBIRD2 <[email protected]> Cc: DEREK MATTHEWS <derek.j.matthews@...>; QUENTIN BROWN <quentinkbrown@...>; MELISSA HAFTING <bcbirdergirl@...> Subject: [vanbcbirds] Dusky Flycatchers (was: Empid question) ? Derek, ? As the main person who has kept track of rare bird sightings in Metro Vancouver since the 1960s, I can give a very definite answer to your question. It is an unqualified YES! Since May 4th this year, there have been 14 reports of Dusky Flycatcher in our area, which is an all-time high. (All of these were single birds, and it doesn¡¯t include the birds your team banded). A normal number of sightings would be 1 to 5 in a year, almost all of them in May.? By most definitions, this is rare, especially because it is very unusual to find more than one Dusky Flycatcher at once. ? All or nearly all of this year¡¯s sightings were by experienced and capable birders, and/or were photographed. It looks like an abnormally high number of Duskies migrated west of the Cascades this year. You can see a list of the dates and locations of these sightings on the ¡°Vancouver Rare Bird Alert¡± webpage, maintained by Melissa Hafting. It is at this location: . From the top of the listing, scroll down about 3 screens and you will find the list of all the recent Dusky Flycatcher sightings. ? Dusky Flycatcher is an abundant breeding bird in the BC Southern Interior. (I have run a BBS route near Merritt since 1974, and the first year I surveyed it, I recorded 44 Dusky Flycatchers¡ª the commonest bird on the route!) However, the species does not breed west of the Cascades, and is consistently a rare migrant, more in spring that fall. The status of Dusky Flycatchers in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR is pretty much the same as around Vancouver. ? As you know, Dusky Flycatcher is very difficult to identify in the field, especially from Hammond¡¯s, which is common here. As you say, the wing formula of the two is different, making it possible to reliably identify them in the hand.? Even after 60 years of birding experience, I often have difficulty separating these two on visual characters alone. However, the songs and call-notes of these two are quite different, and make it easy to separate them IF they are vocalizing. I first recorded Dusky Flycatchers in the field (by their call-notes) in our area at Pitt Meadows in 1972, and I usually manage to find one or two myself every spring. ? Even though I¡¯ve rarely visited the Colony Farm banding station, I am well aware of the work that you and your cooperators are doing. This work is very important and valuable, and documenting records of rare and accidental species, even if it¡¯s a tiny part of the work you do, is important nonetheless. ? Can you give us the dates of Dusky Flycatchers you¡¯ve banded this year? I gather that each time it was a single bird, except for today. ? Keep up the outstanding work you are doing at VARC!! ? Wayne Weber, Ph.D. Delta, BC ? ? From: It turns out that there is also one of these roosts known in BC, at the Courtenay Museum in Courtenay, and that one is active right now. [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Derek Matthews ? Hi Vanbirders! ? Are there any Empid experts out there who have noticed a lot of Dusky Flycatchers in the lower mainland this spring? ? For us as banders with birds in the hand, we can fairly easily separate Dusky from Hammond¡¯s based on wing morphology. This spring, along with a good number of Hammond¡¯s, we have banded multiple Dusky Flys and this morning banded two Dusky along with several Hammond¡¯s. ? This is highly unusual for us; we normally catch the odd Dusky in Spring, and treat it as an uncommon if not rare bird here, but not multiple birds and never two in the same morning! ? I was just wondering if anyone has noticed an increase or had any thoughts? ? Thanks! ? Derek
? ? |
Derek Matthews