Hi ya'all,

This is a pet project of mine. Actually, according to Ned K. "Empidonax"
Johnson, the source of the split, the call notes of males are not
reliable, rather the distinction, he says, must be based on the full male
song, heard often just early in the mornings. In any case, Dick Cannings
and I have recordings of individuals that give both call notes in quick
succession... particularly common in the se Washington area where
"Cordilleran" Flycatchers are presumed to be the nesting "species."
Actually, the songs also exhibit a mosaic like cline in all mensural
characters NKJ used to distinguish the two types, which extends from the
east slope of the Washington Cascades across n Washington & s B>C> to the
Rockies. There appears to be no geographic or habitat barriers between
the two types in the northern Rocky Mountain, intermountain region,
though Westerns are relatively uncommon in the intermountain zone due to
habitat limitations (i.e., it's rather too dry in many places).

Gene Hunn [hunn at u.washington.edu]


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> Date: Tue, 2 Aug 1994 09:16:37 PDT
> From: Mark Crotteau <CROTTEAU%WSUVM1.BITNET at ARIZVM1.ccit.arizona.edu>
> Subject: Pacific-slope Flycatchers east of mountains
>
> In response to Rocky Rothrock's question about Pacific-slope vs. Cordilleran
> Flycatchers, this may not help much, but the situation in Washington state
> is that Pacific-slope Flycatchers occur well east from the coast. I recently
> saw them for the first time in Washington on the east slope of the Cascades
> near the town of Twisp. The males were very vocal, as I heard three different
> ones calling, and got an excellent view of one of them. The Cordilleran
> apparently breeds only in the extreme southeast corner of the state.
> Ironically, a place called Kamiak Butte, which is 15 miles north of where I
> live in Pullman, is supposed to be one of the best if not the best place to
> see them. I haven't yet seen them there. The call of the male is said to be
> the only reliable way to identify the species. The ones I heard gave calls
> that varied between "tsee-ee-eep" and "tsee-ee-up:" not like the call of
> any other Empidonax I have yet heard around here.
>
> Mark Crotteau Pullman, WA <crotteau at wsuvm1.csc.wsu.edu>
>
> ====================
>
> From: "Barbara J. Combs" <bcombs at EDNET1.OSL.OR.GOV>
>
> re: Cordilleran vs. Pacific Slope Flycatcher vocalizations
>
> This issue is very difficult indeed. I have heard from some
> people who rely on recorded bird sounds and, just because a
> particular bird is recorded east of the Cascade Mountains in
> Oregon, the bird must be a Cordilleran Flycatcher. Then, if, by
> chance a wandering Pacific Slope Flycatcher was recorded east of
> the Cascades, the erroneous conclusion is that the vocalizations
> of the two species are nearly impossible to distinguish, based on
> the recording. When will birders have noninvasive remote DNA
> analyzers? If the crossbills are split, I'll want mine sooner
> rather than later.
>
> --
> Barbara Combs obie '70
> Eugene, OR
> bcombs at ednet1.osl.or.gov
>
> ==================
>
> From: Alvaro Patricio Jaramillo <jaramill at SFU.CA>
> Subject: Re: "Western" Flycatcher
>
> Joe MOrlan writes:
> >
> > I have also heard substantial rumors of a soon-to-be-published
> > study claiming Pacific-slope Flycatcher vocalizations heard and/or
> > recorded from Cordilleran Flycatchers throughout most of the
> > latter's range.
>
> Dick Cannings and Gene Hunn have worked on the complex in the interior of
> British Columbia and Washington as well as their respective coasts. They
> have found that the situation here is much less clear cut than in
> California. Birds in the interior appear to have call notes that are
> intermediate between the two "species" and therefore most of the birds in
> the interior are as such unidentifiable! This zone of intermediates
> appears to be quite wide. I have seen the manuscript, it should be
> published quite soon.
>
> BTW- The "Western" Flycatcher is the only species I know that was split
> based in part on differences in a "call" not the full male "song". I
> realize that being suboscines these flycatchers could be considered to
> lack a true song altogether, but what are the functions of the squeaky
> song versus the call notes in this species? I imagine that the "song"
> should have a completely territorial defense purpose, while the "call"
> should have the aim of attracting a female, otherwise I cannot see how the
> two types could maintain themselves separate.
>
> Al Jaramillo
> jaramill at sfu.ca
> Vancouver, BC.
>
>
>