Dear Tweeters, Gene Hunn and Ruth Sullivan,

Gene was quite proper to question the Alder Flycatchers reported
recently. There are no accepted records for Washington, and as Gene
says, any reports need to be documented by a tape recording of songs
and calls.
For the record, I am the person who was responsible for the Alder
Flycatcher report from Okanogan County in 1991, which I discovered
while doing field work for the Breeding Bird Atlas. The bird in
question WAS an Alder Flycatcher. It was singing persistently, as if
on territory, from a flooded willow thicket along the Similkameen
River northwest of Palmer Lake (near the Canadian border) on June 1,
1991. I immediately realized the importance of tape-recording this
bird's songs, but although I had a tape recorder, I did not have any
blank tape. By the time I returned the next day with some blank tape,
the bird was nowhere to be found. I reported the sighting to the
Seattle RBA (that was in pre-Bird Box days), but no one else could
rediscover or confirm the bird. Given that Alder and Willow
Flycatchers were officially "split" only in 1973, and that many people
have difficulty separating their songs and calls, I chose not to
submit an official report to the Washington Records Committee of a
bird that was certain to be rejected anyway. I feel quite strongly
that it is important to document a first state record by a photo
(useless for Alder Flycatcher) or tape recording, especially for
hard-to-identify species, although written field notes may be adequate
for an easily-identified species seen by numerous observers.
Gene's comments may be misleading in one sense, when he stated
that "Willow Flycatchers...sing rather variable songs". Having heard
hundreds or thousands of Alder, Willow, and other Empidonax
flycatchers over the years, I can detect little or no individual
variation in songs of Alder or Willow Flycatchers. The ordinary
territorial songs of both species (and of most other flycatchers) are
remarkably stereotyped, and Willow and Alder songs are as distinct
from each other as are the songs of any other 2 Empidonax species.
(This lack of individual variation is in contrast with birds like the
Song Sparrow or Bewick's Wren, in which each individual has several
different song patterns, and no two individuals have the same
repertoire of song patterns.) However, Willow Flycatchers do have a
vocalization which is either a call-note or an abbreviated song-- it
could be described as an emphatic "fwee-beer!"-- which can confuse
birders sometimes.
Attempts to phoneticize bird songs are crude at best, but next
time you hear a Willow Flycatcher sing, listen carefully to it.
Although the song is described by Peterson and others as "fitz-bew",
there are actually two different phrases, each with the first note
highest-pitched, which are given alternately. I phoneticize the song
as "fwitch-be-heer! fweep-a-deer! fwitch-be-heer! fweep-a-deer". Each
of the 2 different phrases is distinctly 3-noted, not 2-noted. The
alternation of 2 different phrases is common in flycatchers; other
examples are Western Wood-Pewee, Eastern Phoebe and Black Phoebe.
Hammond's and Dusky Flycatchers, by comparison, each have 3 different
phrases in the song, which are given in a somewhat variable order.
The Alder Flycatcher, on the other hand (like the Least Flycatcher
and some other Empids) has a single phrase in the song. It can be
described as a burry "ree-bee-wip!", with the second note
highest-pitched. To me, that sounds closer than "fee-bee-o". (Oh, for
a sonagram or two!)

Birders should be alert for the possibility of Alder Flycatcher in
Washington. It is one of the most likely species to be added to the
state list. The normal breeding range of Alder Flycatcher in B.C.
extends south at least to Revelstoke on the Columbia River, and the
southern edge of the Cariboo Plateau north of Kamloops and Clinton.
(It should be noted that the research of Robert Stein, which resulted
in Willow and Alder Flycatchers being "split", was done mostly near
Williams Lake, B.C.) There is a record of an Alder Flycatcher on
territory near Vernon, B.C. from June 8 to 28, 1984 (Cannings et al,
Birds of the Okanagan Valley, 1987); its song was tape-recorded. I
have had records of Alder Flycatchers singing on territory in the
Nicola Valley of B.C. on two occasions. One was along the Nicola River
west of Merritt in June 1980 (present for at least 10 days), and the
second was in a brush thicket near Brookmere, SW of Merritt, sometime
in the 1980s (date not handy at the moment). Brookmere is only 91 km
(57 miles) north of the Washington border. There is also a fairly
well-documented record of a singing Alder Flycatcher at North
Vancouver, B.C. (multiple observers), although that bird was not
tape-recorded.
Alder Flycatchers probably reach B.C. by migrating east of the
Rockies and crossing the Rockies north of the U.S border, as do some
other birds like many Bobolinks and many "Myrtle" Warblers and other
"eastern" warblers. This, plus the fact that Empids generally do not
sing while migrating, may explain why there are no confirmed
Washington Alder Flycatchers to date.
I am still chagrined over my failure to tape-record the 1991 Alder
Flycatcher, and I always keep several blank cassette tapes in my car
now. (Closing the barn door after the horse is gone???) You don't get
too many chances to add a species to a state list, and I muffed my
chance. However, one of these days, someone will find a singing Alder
Flycatcher in Washington-- most likely in the northern part of
Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, or Pend Oreille County. As with my bird, you
should not really expect anyone to be convinced unless you can
tape-record the song (or unless the bird sticks around for a few
days). So, Washington birders-- take up the Alder Flycatcher
challenge!!

Wayne Weber
114-525 Dalgleish Drive
Kamloops, B.C. V2C 6E4
Phone: (250) 377-8865
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca


-----Original Message-----
From: Ruth Sullivan <godwit at worldnet.att.net>
To: hunnhome at accessone.com <hunnhome at accessone.com>;
tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Sunday, June 27, 1999 9:37 AM
Subject: Re: Alder Flycatchers & Rose-breasted Grosbeaks


>Hello Eugene,
> I am glad you responded to the ALDER Flycatcher.I remember the
sighting at
>the Ornithological Okanogan convention in 1991 there was an possible
Alder
>Flycatcher found on Chopaca road near Palmer Lake. I believe it never
got
>confirmed, this is the only sighting I ever heard of in washington.
>Ruth Sullivan
>Tacoma
>
>----------
>> From: Eugene Hunn <hunnhome at accessone.com>
>> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
>> Subject: Alder Flycatchers & Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
>> Date: Sunday, June 27, 1999 8:11 AM
>>
>> The last Bird Box summary had two separate reports of "Alder
Flycatchers"
>> (at Juanita and near Carnation). This is most unlikely, as there is
no
>valid
>> record for Washington. Willow Flycatchers are indistinguishable
visually
>and
>> sing rather variable songs that can seem to match the Anglicization
cited
>in
>> guides "Fee-bay-o." Any suspected Alder Flycatcher needs to be
documented
>by
>> tape recordings of it songs and calls.
>>
>> Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have turned up a few times near Seattle,
>typically
>> in early summer. In fact, one male frequented a feeder south of
Issaquah
>on
>> the lower slopes of Tiger Mountain about 10 years ago and
apparently
>> attempted to breed with a Black-headed female. This is close to the
Swauk
>> Mtn. sighting. It is, of course, very rare and should be carefully
>> documented. I'm sure many observers would love the chance to see
one in
>> Washington, so, if circumstances permit, details as to location,
etc.,
>> should be shared promptly.
>>
>> Gene Hunn.
>