On 13 December, Willie Sekula reported a "Western" Flycatcher in Choke Canyon State Park in McMullen County, Texas (south of San Antonio). On 1 January, other Texas birders including Sheridan Coffey, Martin Reid, Derek Muschalek, and the original finder, Willie Sekula, observed the bird again. After careful observations and both audio and video recordings analyzed, they now believe the bird is a Pine Flycatcher, Empidonax affinis. If accepted by the TOS and ABA records committees, it would become a new species record for the ABA Area. Sonograms made from recordings of the calls can be found on Martin Reid's website, www.martinreid.com/Main%20website/empidchoke.html. A possible Hammond's Flycatcher and a possible Least Flycatcher are in the bird's territory for comparison. Keys for I.D. include narrow bill, blackish upper mandible and orange-yellow lower mandible. The wings and tail should be long as should the primary projection (Howell and Webb). Legs are black.
Photo of what is believed by some, but not all, to be the 1st ABA Area record of Pine Flycatcher is courtesy of David McDonald of Friendswood, Texas.
Pine Flycatcher is a Mexican and Guatemalan endemic found mostly in pine-oak woodlands and edge as close to the Texas border as southeastern Coahuila and southwestern Nuevo Leon. (Howell and Webb, A Guide to the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America.) It's whip call is described as being different from whit calls of its congeners (HBW Vol.9).
I belive i have seen this little bird in San Clemente, Ca. This week on our Lemon Tree? I'm not a bird watcher, and thought it was a funny looking Hummingbird. Can anyone tell me more about this little bird?
Thanks
Posted by: Penny | January 09, 2009 at 06:55 PM
We have seen the pine flycatcher in Cedar Park, Texas. This is considerably north (about 100+ miles) of the Choke Canyon site. The little bird appeared 4 times in December sitting in a Live Oak tree and then hopping off the tree limb and pecking at his reflection in our upstairs bathroom window. (This window cause a mirror like reflection at certain times of the day)
Since I did not know what this bird was I searched my North American bird book. He is not listed. Thank goodness the AP article came out in our local paper, because that was him.
Posted by: Mike Sandifer | January 11, 2009 at 07:36 AM
Took pictures of one of these in Kerrville, Texas, Christmas weekend
Posted by: Terry Overton | January 11, 2009 at 11:21 AM
To all who previously posted-
I doubt that the birds you saw were Pine Flycatchers. The chances of seeing a Pine Flycatcher anywhere in North America is slim and unlikely. Even the experts who have been birding for years are still disputing whether this is a Pine Flycatcher or not, which tells us that it is a hard identification. The empidonax flycatchers are hard to tell apart from one another (sometimes impossible) so it is most likely the birds you saw were some other species. I can not say with total confidence that they weren't Pine Flycatchers, but I do know that the odds are against it.
Respectfully,
Tucker Lutter
Posted by: Tucker Lutter | January 11, 2009 at 04:35 PM
We have a bird just like what is posted above in our house right now. One of my children found it sitting in our driveway. We believe it is dying. We have seen them this time of year for many years. We are in East Texas near Carthage. We were watching for them after seeing the news on AOL. Been enjoying them for years not realizing they were rare. We were hoping for just a picture...not a dying bird.
Posted by: Chris Abbott | January 12, 2009 at 05:23 PM
Please people, as Tucker points out, if accepted, this would be a 1st ABA area record. If they were as regular as these comments suggest, they would already have been reported to the ABA and added to the checklist.
This bird was not initially identified by sight. It was tentatively identified as a Pine Flycatcher only after sonograms were made of the audio recordings and were compared to other flycatchers. That should give you an idea of just how difficult this ID is.
Personally though, I do not believe that the above photo depicts a Pine Flycatcher. I cannot claim any experience with this species but I believe the eye ring is too prominent and the bill is too big. The primaries are also not long enough on this bird.
This is either a "Wright's" type (not plain enough I think) or a "Western" type Flycatcher (much more likely). It could be a Least Flycatcher but I'm not sure the build is quite right and the color is a little too rich. Could just be the lighting though. The Photographer here used a flash which would enhance the color a bit.
Respectfully submitted,
--Chris West
Posted by: Chris West | January 13, 2009 at 01:09 AM
Bill Maynard has helped us identify our bird. We actually had an American Goldfinch. Thank you Mr. Maynard.
The coloring on *our* monitor made us believe the birds were the same. After being pointed out...we do see that the beak on our bird is thicker.
Our point to posting yesterday was to let it be know that *if* another was around, it is not so common. That's it. We are not bird watchers and found this site via Google.
Thankful for the help.
Posted by: Renee Abbott | January 13, 2009 at 02:19 PM