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Posted by Vince Lucas on 01:53:42 11/16/08
In Reply to: Tyrant Flycatchers posted by John H. Haas
John:
Yes, we got all of those Tyrant flycatchers, including the exact number you reported. I got some great photos of both the Western and the Gray Kingbirds side-by-side. Like you, this is the latest date I've ever had for Gray Kingbird. Let's hope it stays around for the winter or at least until the Clewiston/STA-5 CBC on 01/03/2009! Site fidelity for all Tyrant flycatchers is very reliable. I will attach a photo of the WEKI & GRKI here. However, with regard to the Cassin's Kingbird. . . . We did see the bird to which you refer, I'm pretty sure of it, and we (Alan Murray, Margaret England and myself among others) agree that it was a darker bird over all when compared to the nearby Western Kingbirds. The big problem we had with the bird was that it had white outer rectrices on the tail which is indicative of Western Kingbird. We couldn't detect any white on the tip of the tail either. Also, the throat patch wasn't as "narrow" as the Cassin's I've seen in the past as in the Cassin's Kingbird we saw and photographed just an hour prior at STA-5 at the same location on the far west impoundment bordering Chuck Obern's Organic Farm -- the exact same location where it was originally found and photographed last month. Note to Brian & the TASers: Sorry you missed any of the Tyrant flycatchers at STA-5. Anyway, the Cassin's at STA-5 was associating with two Western Kingbirds. Now, just like the two Tropical Kingbirds in Miami-Dade where one of them was found several days later than the first TRKI, it is possible that there could be two CAKIs but how probable is that? I don't have an answer for that. Nor do I have an explanation for our discrepancies in IDing the same bird, assuming it was the same bird. It's possible that we saw different birds but, again, I don't think so since we saw the same number of birds in the same exact location. Bottom line is that folks need to go out there to the Deer Fence Canal area on CR835 and study these flycatchers more thoroughly. I will write up a complete trip report for our STA-5 tour and pre & post trip finds tomorrow when I am less tired. It was a long hot day (after the fog lifted).
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