Hi Tweets,

Don Cecile writes:

>soon afterward, I began hearing "che-beck" off in the distance...hmmm sounds
>like Least Flycatcher.

Definitely advantage Least. The very fact you're hearing it "in the
distance" suggests Least, rather than Hammond's: that 'BEK' component is *loud*.

>Of course this species is very rare on the coast,
>and I am not sure that there are any records for Vancouver Island (perhaps
>Michael has some data?)

If memory serves me '-) In vol 3 of Campbell's Birds of BC, there's a
number of records for Vancouver Island shown: 3 non-breeding from the E side
from Nanaimo south all in the Jun-Jul-Aug sector of the record's seasonal
wheel, one breeding record at Victoria in the same period, and one
non-breeding record in the Mar-Apr-May sector from Bamfield or Port Renfrew.
Campbell goes on to say: "...in the Southern Interior Mountains, birds may
be found as late as mid-September...On the coast, the Least Flyctacher has
been recorded from 4 May to 1 September, etc."

> I
>did not get a look at the entire bill but the base was yellow and fairly
>broad.

Advantage Least.

>The amount of yellow seen was significant and no dusky or dark areas
>were present

That would tend to eliminate a Hammond's, but not Dusky, bill pattern,
wouldn't it?

>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?).

Do juvenile empids sing? Don't think so. A juv Hammond's wouldn't be giving
a 'che-beck' call in any case.

>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.

Least has a very hard, abrupt call; that second syllable is snapped out
'sseBEK' and often repeated several times in quick succession, unlike most
of the western empids who seem content to call/sing once and let it go at
that for a minute or two before the next utterance. A singing male Least can
really motormouth.

Hammond's 'se-birk' is gruffer, and doesn't have the carrying power of the
Least's song.

>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.

I'm not competent to comment on this point, but can say that the few Leasts
I've seen here on the coast have always been in mature deciduous stands of
either black cottonwood or big-leafed maple, and one was in a mature stand
of large alders at the S end of the Iona Causeway.

All in all, Don, I think the details--song, observed bill shape and
color--you have posted suggest Least more than any similar empid, but
suggest is all they do. I'd encourage you to write it up formally as a
possible so there's a record, even if it remains a 'pssible' at best. Then
twenty years up ahead, when the pattern of visitation and migration of Least
Flycatcher to Vancouver Island is clearer, particularly in relation to
Hammond's, your observation can be re-assessed according to the light of
that knowledge.

Michael Price The Sleep of Reason Gives Birth to Monsters
Vancouver BC Canada -Goya
mprice at mindlink.net