In message <m0uIxgE-0006dxC at dewey.mindlink.net> writes:
> On Mon, 13 May 1996 00:01:06 PDT, tweeters at u.washington.edu wrote:
>
> >And (the best for last) a Western Flycatcher 'Pacific-slope' and a Western
> >Flycatcher 'Cordilleran' caught in the same net at the same time on Saturday
> >at the famous Douglas Creek Banding Station. The brit ringer there to
> observe
> >was thanking his lucky stars there were no Empids in England. You may be
> asking
> >how I knew the difference in hand. It takes a while, Pyle et.al.,and some
> >experience.
>
> <cut>
>
> All right, I give. Just how do you tell the two apart in the hand without
> hearing them sing??????
>
> - Jack
>
> ***************************
> *Jack Bowling *
> *Prince George, BC *
> *jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca *
> ***************************
>
Jack, It's not easy (come to think of it, maybe it's impossible), but after
20 years of listening to, looking at, and banding Empids in the northwest I just
have a feel for them. I certainly do not claim to be an expert, and the Western
Flycatcher problem in the northwest is far from solved. Most of the Western
Flycatchers I see, hear, and band in eastern Washington are closest to the
Cordilleran I am familiar with from Idaho (central and eastern). It may very
well be that eastern WA/OR is a broad hybrid zone. I am more convinced of this
after catching a "typical Pacific-slope" (very yellow) and a "typical
Cordilleran" (western features=wing formula, teardrop eyering; and more brown
with little yellow on the throat) at the same time at Douglas Creek. It's
early, so they are probably just migrating through. My breeding birds are
certainly intermediate.
Dan



Dan Stephens (509) 662-7443
Dept. of Biology fax: (509) 664-2538
Wenatchee Valley College e-mail: dstephen at ctc.edu
1300 Fifth Street
Wenatchee, WA 98801