** Reply to message from Craig Corder <ccorder at eoni.com> on Mon, 10 Jun 2002 21:56:04 -0700


> First Congrats to Bob Flores for this find.
> For what its worth, I thought I saw an Alder Flycatcher June 16, 1995 near
> LaGrande in NE Oregon (Bird Track Springs). The 2 note "fee brr" sounds
> like what it was doing. What really got my attention was that the Willow
> Flycatchers were attaching this poor bird. It was sitting less than 2 feet
> off the ground (almost hiding). Once in a while a "fee brr" would slip out
> & one of at least 2 Willow's would fly in & peck it. I was less than 15
> feet away for 30 minutes. My darn tape recorder wouldn't work. It was gone
> when I returned.
> Has anyone else (Jack?) noted such conflicts in areas where both species
> exist? (central BC).

Negative, Craig. Have never seen any interaction between these two congeners. If such behavior as seen by you is typical, then hybridization should be rare.

While I agree with Wayne W. that full songs are separable, Alders have lots of shorter snippets such as a rising then falling "wEEr"! and other typical empid "gargle" type contact calls that given alone may confuse some people.

Jack Bowling
Prince George, BC
mailto: jbinpg at shaw.ca