Hi Arwen,
Re the flycatcher, Leaden would be more likely at Lawson although
both are possible during migration. The difficulties of separating
the females of these two species have been discussed on Birding-Aus
in the past. In short, they are extremely difficult to tell apart and
the field guides are no help at all. To quote from a posting I made
in March 2005:
"Ahh, the perennial Leaden vs. Satin question! There was an excellent
article on this by Graeme Chapman in the June 2003 Wingspan. It all
seems to boil down to the fact that the female Satin has a bluish
sheen on the crown, which the Leaden doesn't have. None of the other
features, e.g. amount of rufous on the breast, are reliable and in
fact the various field guides seem to contradict each other on some
points. However, the female Satin does also tend to be darker on the
throat and back than the Leaden."
The calls are also very similar. You'll find more in the archives.
Cheers,
Carol
At 2:20 PM +1100 22/2/08, Arwen B. Ximenes wrote:
Dear Birders,
Both observations were made in Lawson in the mid-Blue Mountains west
of Sydney, altitude approx. 730m.
Firstly to the Flycatcher: last Saturday (16th Feb) we were walking
along the firetrail off San Jose Ave (which follows a bit of a ridge
for a bit) when we saw a flash of movement - we initially thought we
saw a spinebill flitting from one tree to another, but when we saw
it perched for a brief moment it was very clear it wasn't a
spinebill! Of course I didn't have my field guide with me so I tried
to remember all the features as well as I could, though I'm still
learning this skill. Even with my limited knowledge I realized it
had to be a flycatcher and so when I got home I looked it up and
indeed it looked very close to the female Satin Flycatcher - but
then I realized the Leaden Flycatcher looks very similar, and I had
to admit that given the light conditions at the time I can't say for
sure if the head was the darker colour of the Satin Flycatcher. Any
tips for helping me rule out leaden? I imagine I'll just have to
leave a question mark and hope I see another one, but perhaps locals
can comment on which species might be more likely? Actually there
were 2-3 females darting from tree to tree - no males, and no crest
erecting was observed and I can't remember the call clearly enough,
though I think it was a bit raspy and actually reminded me a little
of the Sacred Kingfisher's raspy call (no camera, so I couldn't
record the call...). One difference from the field guide: the
underparts were more buff coloured than white. They made little
flourishes with their tails reminiscent of a fantail. Actually quite
a spectacular bird to watch - and it seems odd the females are more
brightly coloured than the males.
cheers,
arwen
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
