Don Cecile wrote -

>>>>
Eventually it moves close enough that I can get a real look at it. One
problem, it is largely hidden by leaves (and shortly afterward, it flew off
into the maple trees). I was however, able to get glimpses of it but the
best feature that I could see was the underside of the lower mandible. I
did not get a look at the entire bill but the base was yellow and fairly
broad. The amount of yellow seen was significant and no dusky or dark areas
were present however I can not confirm that the yellow extended to bill tip.
(this could lead one to think that perhaps it was a young Hammond's-perhaps
even more likely at this late of a date, however would a young Hammond's be
singing?). As far as I can figure, if the bird is not a Least Flycatcher,
then I would have mistaken its song for a Hammond's, but would a Hammond's
have so much yellow under its bill? would a Hammond's have such a broad base
to its bill, seems to me their bill is always darker and more narrow.
<<<<<

Welcome back, Don! Short answer is: let it go as a fall empid!

A Hammond's bill is the narrowest and tiniest of all our empids. It is unlikely to
be seen as being broad at the base at any time. However, this is better
appreciated with some familiarity with other empids. Shading and color of the
underside of the bill varies too much to be diagnostic, especially with hatch year
birds which tend to have paler bills than adults.

>>>>>
I would have liked to have seen the bird in its entirety. More often I
complain of seeing empids that refuse to call, here I should be content with
having heard the bird but really wish I could have seen more detail. As
far as song goes, I describe it as: very dry sounding (less sneezy or insect-like
than Hammond's)certainly disyllabic with accent on the second syllable and the
first syllable is of higher pitch. Habitat also points toward Least vs. hammond's
and I should note that I have never had a Hammond's flycatcher in this area, even
when they are abundant.
<<<<<

The only two empids with disyllabic calls in which the first syllable *may seem*
to be higher-pitched than the second are Dusky and Hammond's. Again, people's ears
differ in how they hear the harmonics which affects how they hear the pitch of the
calls. However, Least Flycatcher *do* have a "dry" sounding call. I'm afraid there
is no way you are ever going to know for sure, Don, unless you track the bird
down, net it, and take some measurements of wing chord, bill, and tail. As for the
possibility of Least Flycatcher on Van. I., Vol. 3 of _Birds of B.C._ shows four
non-breeding and one breeding record (breeding record looks like it was around
Victoria). So it leaves the realm of the impossible and enters into the possible.

- Jack


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