Hey, all. Thanks for the gray flycatcher discussion. Always fun to learn cool new stuff. Here's a video of a gray flycatcher that I made in May 2019:
https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine/status/1126302315995062272
The tail-dipping behavior is, in my experience, a good field mark for the gray flycatcher: down-up, fluid and phoebe-like, with the tail at and below the plane of the body for the duration of the stereotyped behavior. Other supporting behavioral marks for migrant gray flycatchers, in my experience, include: foraging quite close to, and sometimes on, the ground; proximity to standing water; high level of activity overall. Agree with folks on all morphological field marks. This is a largish and lanky empid; distinctively long-billed and thin-billed, and relatively long-tailed; small-headed and round-headed; and gray overall, with low-contrast plumage and pale lores.
No gray flycatchers this evening, Tues., Apr. 28, at the Greenlee/Waneka/Hecla ecological complex, eastern Boulder County, but nice to see a Brewer sparrow, an orange-crowned warbler, and an eastern bluebird.
-- https://twitter.com/BirdingMagazine/status/1126302315995062272
The tail-dipping behavior is, in my experience, a good field mark for the gray flycatcher: down-up, fluid and phoebe-like, with the tail at and below the plane of the body for the duration of the stereotyped behavior. Other supporting behavioral marks for migrant gray flycatchers, in my experience, include: foraging quite close to, and sometimes on, the ground; proximity to standing water; high level of activity overall. Agree with folks on all morphological field marks. This is a largish and lanky empid; distinctively long-billed and thin-billed, and relatively long-tailed; small-headed and round-headed; and gray overall, with low-contrast plumage and pale lores.
No gray flycatchers this evening, Tues., Apr. 28, at the Greenlee/Waneka/Hecla ecological complex, eastern Boulder County, but nice to see a Brewer sparrow, an orange-crowned warbler, and an eastern bluebird.
Ted Floyd
Lafayette, Boulder County
On Sunday, April 26, 2020 at 6:22:30 PM UTC-6, Norm Erthal wrote:
On Sunday, April 26, 2020 at 6:22:30 PM UTC-6, Norm Erthal wrote:
I have seen several posts on Ebird for gray flycatcher. The ones with photos are not convincing for gray flycatcher. The id seems to be based on downward tail flicking. This may be the worst field mark for empids, They all flick their tails down. About the only thing that can be said with certainty is if they flick their tails up, they are probably not gray.Norm ErthalArvada
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