Dear Birders,

In an earlier posting, when I mentioned a single record of Alder
Flycatcher from Vancouver, it was not Michael's report, but a 1981
record from Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver that I was referring
to. (I do not have the exact date at hand.) I had forgotten for the
moment about the 1990 report by Michael, John Cooper, and Dale Jensen.
I cannot recall now why the 1990 report was not accepted at the time,
but reading Michael's account of it, it seems quite plausible, except
for the lack of a tape recording. (Dale, did you forget to bring a
blank tape too??) The 1981 bird, as well, was not taped, and does not
seem any better documented than the 1990 one.
I would like to inject a note of caution in the use of
"playbacks". Although one species of bird normally does not respond
aggressively to the song of another, I HAVE on occasion had a Willow
Flycatcher approach silently or sing back in response to a tape of an
Alder Flycatcher song. I am not suggesting that the 1990 Iona bird was
a Willow Flycatcher, since it apparently responded with an Alder song.
However, it is not good enough documentation to say that the bird
"responded" to the tape, which could mean that it approached silently
or gave only call-notes. The only documentation that will convince
everyone is a tape recording of the vagrant bird.
One of the problems with describing bird songs is that, unlike
describing plumage, the terminology is much more subjective, and a
description of a song written by one competent birder, including an
attempt to phoneticize the song, may be unrecognizable to another
equally competent birder. Different observers often seem to "hear" the
same song differently. This is why most Records Committees are much
more reluctant to accept records of unusual birds based on a
description of the vocalization than on a description of the bird's
appearance. For an extralimital record of a bird as tricky to identify
as Willow vs. Alder Flycatcher, a sound recording (or, dare I say it
:-)-- a good old-fashioned specimen) should be a minimum requirement,
especially for a first state record. This is not a problem for Gray
Flycatcher (first recorded in B.C. in 1984), which is easily
identified by appearance as well as by voice, but Willows and Alders
are virtually indistinguishable in the field by appearance.

An interesting sideline to the Alder Flycatcher discussion is the
species' status in Oregon. There are a number of records of migrant
Alder Flycatchers from Malheur NWR and Fields in SE Oregon, and
several records of territorial birds in NE Oregon, including a claimed
breeding record near La Grande. At least some of these birds have been
accepted by the Oregon Records Committee, and the bird is on the
"official" state list. However, in "Birds of Oregon: status and
distribution" (1994), by Gilligan et al., doubt is cast on all Oregon
records of the species, and the authors state that "we prefer not to
give Alder Flycatcher full standing on the Oregon list." Were NONE of
these birds tape-recorded?? Perhaps I have stumbled onto a hornet's
nest of dissention among Oregon birders here :-). Mike Patterson or
others, do you have any comments?
Alder and Willow Flycatchers are NOT that hard to distinguish by
songs. Part of the problem is that the majority of birders (and
ornithologists), who don't really trust their ears, are skeptical of
those who do trust their ears-- especially when you have two species
which are visually almost identical. The only way to resolve this
doubt, in areas where Alder Flycatcher is not expected, is to get tape
recordings of songs and calls, which can document the occurrence as
well as a photograph. I repeat my challenge to Washington birders--
get out there and look for Alder Flycatchers, armed with a tape
recorder and some blank tapes!!

Wayne Weber
Kamloops, B.C.
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca


-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Price <mprice at mindlink.bc.ca>
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Sunday, June 27, 1999 11:22 PM
Subject: Re: Alder Flycatchers & Rose-breasted Grosbeaks


>Hi Tweets,
>
>In June 1990, I along with John Cooper, a wildlife biologist for whom
I was
>working at the time, located a 'singing' ALDER FLYCATCHER Empidonac
alnorum
>in a large stand of Scotch broom at the base of the Iona North Jetty
in
>Greater Vancouver BC. Tne bird was both calling and singing fairly
>frequently, staying low in the bush. When told of the location, Dale
Jensen,
>one of Vancouver BC's most knowledgeable and experienced birders,
went to
>that location, played the Peterson Alder Fly tape and had the bird
reply
>immediately with the identical 'song', thus confirming the identity
of this
>bird as an Alder Flycatcher and definitively *not* a WILLOW
FLYCATCHER E.
>traillii. As we were both experienced with the species (Dale far more
than I
>at the time--as a kid I knew Alder and Willow Fly's as fairly common
summer
>breeders in southern Ontario, and in one place could here one species
on one
>side, the other species on the other; then a few years after the Iona
>observation, I got to see and hear a ton of Alder Fly's in the river
>flood-plains W of Mackenzie BC) there was no question of a
>mis-identification occurring.
>
>The typical call was a burred, rising 're-Beep!', but when the bird
faced
>John and I it was possible to hear the quiet little tag-on syllable
at the
>end, thus, 're-Beeeah!'. The call-note, fairly frequently uttered,
was a
>quiet, slightly hollow 'tep' or 'pep'.
>
>Contrast to the Willow's typical call, a clotted, loud 'rrit!' and
its
>typical, deliberately-phrased song 'rrrit...rrit-zue', downwardly
pitched
>and usually phoneticised as 'fitzbew'. What fools a lot of people
(myself
>included the very next day) is that Willow sometimes omits the
introductory
>'rrit' and condenses the song to a rapid 'rizoo', suggesting an Alder
Fly.
>The major difference is that the Alder Fly's emphasis is on the
second
>syllable, the Willow's on the first, even in the compressed song.
>
>Note also the great difference between the calls: Alder, gives a
quiet,
>hollow 'pep' while Willow utters a loud 'rrrit' or, to other ears,
'whit'
>
>Why the record was never accepted by the Vancouver BC rarities
committee is
>beyond me, as 1.) it was not the first record for Vancouver and 2.)
it was
>*independently confirmed* by a long-established birder with far more
>experience of the species than I. I asked for a fair review of the
>observation a couple of years ago but I guess I must have made too
many
>waves about it, 'cos I haven't heard anything since. But, hey, that's
how
>they've always done things here in Vancouver BC.
>
>Too bad, as it not only would the datum help in figuring out the
migration
>dynamics of the species' western edge but would also be a valuable
datum in
>helping to establish a northbound vagrancy window for this species in
the
>greater Vancouver Checklist Area and help the local listers know the
most
>likely times to look for an extralimital Alder Fly. The timing of the
Iona
>observation, Week 2 June, was around the same time as the major
influx of
>this species into the Donna Creek area near Mackenzie in
north-central BC;
>clearly this was a an extralimital northbound individual rather than
a
>wandering failed breeder.
>
>Michael Price
>Vancouver BC Canada
>mprice at mindlink.net
>