** Steve M. asked:

> Howdy folks! Maybe I'm crazy, but there's a small bird that's been hanging
> out just north of Marymoor in the trees along the slough. Until this
> morning my wife and I had only heard it (a short, two note song, even
> accents on both notes, first note higher than the second). I had listened
> to much of my Western Bird Songs CD trying to figure it out, but had no
> luck. This morning it came into a pine tree right behind my apartment, and,
> while midly shy, it was only so shy as to change branches, not fly off
> completely. It was the size of a goldfinch (which is what I thought it was
> at first, but I've *never* heard this call come from a goldfinch), with a
> faintly yesllow breast, dark legs, small beak, medium gray wings with two
> noticeable white wing bars. I wathced it for a good 15 minutes, and
> finally came back in, grabbed my field guide, and after much hunting
> through, and listening to the songs of all the birds that even looked
> close, the only one that matched was the Yellow Bellied Flycatcher. The
> song on the CD matched what I was hearing, but was a slightly higher tempo.
> Same tone and pitch however.
>
> Dowe get YBF's migrating through this area? I don't see it on the
> Washington state list, and my field guide only lists it as a summer
> resident in Northern Canada. Have I got a bird song CD which is deficient
> and it really is just a molting goldfinch? Am I simply hearing and seeing
> things?

First of all, I am surprised you are hearing anything from this bird if it is
an empid. Most empids clam up tighter than a drum during migration. However,
as always, there are exceptions to the rule.

As for range in Canada, the closest this species gets to you is about 25 miles
south of Prince George, B.C. They have likely always been a small part of
central and northern B.C.'s avifauna but have definitely expanded over the
past several years. The first nest near P.G. was discovered east of town in 1992, the first ever west of the Rockies. They are fairly common in
appropriate habitat now (regenerating *unthinned* pine plantations about 20-40
years old with a good mix of willow and aspen - and what we think is the prime
requirement - a moss layer on the ground. This is the only ground-nesting
empid and likes to make a depression in the moss and then line it with grass.)
and can be found anywhere from 600 to 1000 metres elevation.

As for vocalizations, this changes consistently during the nesting season. For
the first couple of weeks after the males arrive, they spend a lot of time
atop the pines spouting off the territorial song -- che-LEK' -- which sounds
like a Least Flycatcher on muscle relaxers. Not the machine-gun repetition of
a Least with notes fairly well-spaced. Pretty easy to remember once heard a
few times. Once the female arrives and the territories have been carved up
(the species is loosely colonial in c. B.C. with several pairs nesting in
relatively close proximity) the frequency of the che-LEK call drops off and
you start hearing the pair's contact call, a mellow, almost melancholy
chu-WEE'. This is also used as an alarm call. They have the usual assortment
of what I call "gargle" calls which all empids have in their repertoire. These
are used for various things like nest-tending changes, food passoffs, etc.,
and occasional dustups with neighboring birds. Only once have I heard a bird
give a sneezy CHEW!

As for plumage, the adult Yellow-bellieds molt into new feathers on their
wintering grounds in C. America. By the end of July, they are pretty ratty
looking and colors are much faded from early June when they arrive. Only birds
of the year would have immaculate plumage in August. They are probably the
easiest of all the empids to identify in fresh plumage. Salient points are:

- bright yellowish-orange lower mandible; stands out like a sore thumb.
- blackish upper wing coverts with contrasting yellowish edges and tips,
the tipping forming two strong wingbars.
- overall color of the upperparts is a moss-green, much greener than any of
our other empids (only Acadian is greener but we don't get them here).
- underparts have a definite yellow wash, strongest on the breast.
- eyering is strong and yellowish-white, usually evenly encircling the eye.
- primary extension not all that long.

Faded adults have all colors muted and the edging and tipping on the wing
coverts disappears as the feathers fray so the wingbars are not as noticeable.
One of the most noticeable characteristics of this species is its
<anthropomorphic warning on> tameness. The little suckers seem not to care too
much if a human is around their territory and often afford killer looks with
little effort.

Was your bird a Yellow-bellied? Well, I'm afraid there is no way we can tell
for sure from your description. Please, if you have a camera, search it out
tomorrow if it is still around and take some pictures. See if there are some
other birders familiar with empids in your area who could come have a look at
it. Fall empids are one of the toughest clans to successfully ID. Many should
be left as just "empid sp.".

- Jack




Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
jcbowling at mindlink.bc.ca