Donna's Empidonax

Observers: Chris McCreedy
Email: cmccreedyatprbodotorg
Verification: MONO
Remote Name: 65.241.2.253
Date: 10/13/2007
Time: 07:58 PM -0400

Sighting

it's always preferable to see them in the field, but I'll try at this one. I believe this is a juvenile Western Flycatcher. The head is not super-lemony, but I see that often in young Westerns. The wing bars have the buffy look of a Western juvenile, and the flanks and primary edging look too yellow for a Hammond's Flycatcher to me. The lower mandible looks dark, but I think that's a an artifact of the lighting, for its edges seem pretty orange. And the bill looks a little big for a Hammond's. The eye-ring is sort of intermediate, I've seen WEFL with bigger and more yellowed eye-rings, but I think this eye-ring is still in the ballpark. Finally, I think a HAFL would look a little more crested than this on the head.