Hi tweets, hope you can help me with this ID problem. I was conducting a breeding bird survey in the Ochoco Natl. Forest in Oregon, when happened upon some flycatchers, one of whom was busy building a nest. This being my one and only absolutely confirmed breeding record for a flycatcher, I am anxious to complete the ID. The problem is that its call doesn't match any of the expected ones on the tapes I have. Here's the info:

I was in ponderosa pine forest, dry, but not too far from running streams. The understory was mainly grasses. Elevation ~ 4500 - 5000 ft (I'm guessing). The small flycatcher was perching on low-lying branches, picking up pine needles, and flying back to a spot in the grass, loudly calling its mystery call, which I heard from several other birds in the vicinity. This habitat/behavior seems right for both dusky and grey flycatchers (these are the only two that specialize in dry ponderosa pine forest and build their nests close to the ground, not in a tree branch).

The call is the problem, it was a middle-pitched, loud Brrr-eet, rising near the end. No chibits, chi-wips, or other typical flycatcher songs (I listened for a long time and the bird was very close by). If you listen to the Peterson's CD, something like it appears near the end of the Willow Flycatcher track (after all the fitzbews), but the sound on the tape is faster than the one I heard, and there were no fitzbews around. I heard the call again in another section of the NF, so it was not just an anomaly. Anyone know this call?

Thanks, Teresa Michelsen
avocet at halcyon.com