Leaden or Satin?

[Martin Butterfield <>]

I recall some years ago a very experienced member of COG commented that "if there is any doubt about whether a bird is Leaden Flycatcher or Satin Flycatcher the odds are about 99:1 that it is Leaden".   That 'rule' has stood me in good stead since then.

Martin

On 22 December 2013 13:27, Philip Veerman <> wrote:

Thanks. About my input to this, it was passing on findings or viewpoints from others (certainly not my ideas). I think I recall Graeme Chapman had a good article in Wingspan some years ago that properly explained this idea (or better than field guides and HANZAB does). Can someone find that? I'm not going to trawl through them all now.

 

I will try to save time and send a copy of this to him..........

 

The difference is I think hard to interpret when the line appears rather perpendicular. I can't tell from this. A couple photos in this case are not as good as being there but I would still favour on borderline probabilities that it is a Leaden.

 

Philip

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Robin Eckermann [
Sent: Sunday, 22 December 2013 11:21 AM
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] Leaden or Satin? [apologies for resend - this one has the second link corrected]

I struggle with differentiating these species. Philip Veerman kindly suggested a key difference is the line of demarcation on the chest - with that line dipping down for Leadens and going the other way for Satins. Yesterday I snapped this fellow on the lower SE slopes of Mt.Ainslie - and as you can see, the line is pretty much straight. However, there's a definite hint of "satiny blueness" about the head colouring, and in the second picture the underside of the tail is blackish - one of the other differentiating features according to my Simpson and Day guide. The calls were also much more like the examples in the Morcombe iPhone/iPad guide.

(click on thumbnails for larger view)

I would welcome any opinions from more experienced bird-watchers. If this is indeed a Satin Flycatchter I will be celebrating my 99th species photographed in the area (with some others seen/identified but not yet photographed).

--
Regards ... Robin Eckermann
02-6161-6161   or   0418-630-555

--
Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/