[cobirds] Intriguing Empid, Rocky Mountain National Park, Larimer County

Hello, Birders.

The long and the short of it: There's an intriguing Empidonax flycatcher just beyond campsite #13, Loop B, in the Aspenglen campground, Rocky Mountain National Park. Perhaps the 7/22 DFO field trip can try for the bird?

The rest of the story:

Saturday morning, June 7, I digibinned and audio-recorded an Empidonax flycatcher whose ID has eluded me. I tried putting the bird in various boxes. Then I emailed the evidence to various experts, and I got an amazing diversity of responses:

* Willow

* most likely Alder

* Acadian

* Acadian or Alder

* Hammond's

* Dusky

* Dusky or Gray

* some hybrid

* a hybrid, but not Hammond's x Dusky; Dusky probably involved, maybe Dusky x Gray

* let's not rule out Pine Flycatcher as a parent

Whatever this bird is, it's not typical.

Photo-documenting empids with binoculars and and iPhone, I have found, is hard. So the digibinned photos are poor. Here they are, for what it's worth:

http://tinyurl.com/RMNP-Empid-01

http://tinyurl.com/RMNP-Empid-02

The audio is better:

http://www.xeno-canto.org/181520

Arch McCallum, one of the experts who've reviewed the evidence, offers some sage advice: Don't try to put this bird in a box.

What do you think it is?

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado