late Empidonax flycatcher in New Brunsick (Canada)

[Stuart Tingley]

Greetings all,

Several of us discovered a late Empidonax flycatcher near the southern tip
of Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada on
October 23, 2009. After pursuing it for some time in deep shade in the
understory of a spruce forest the bird eventually flew into full light and
perched on dead limbs along the beach. My initial impressions were of a
somewhat large, dumpy Empidonax with an amazing shade of green on the back
and head, large head with a prominently peaked crown, narrow and somewhat
irregular off-white eyering, heavy broad-based bill with extensive orange
on the lower mandible and long primary projection. The underparts seem to
show a pale whitish throat with a pale yellowish wash across the breast,
along the flanks and undertail coverts.

I (perhaps too quickly) felt that structure and plumage eliminated all
North American Empies except Acadian and Alder/Willow and the unique
colour of the back and head pointed strongly in favour of Acadian. I've
never seen an Alder/Willow with this colour of upperparts but then again
I've probably never seen an Alder/Willow in late October. The pewee-esque
structure also strongly reminded me of my few previous encounters with
Acadians.

The bird appears to be in active wing moult and seems to show a
combination of old and new primaries.

Our efforts to photograph the bird with our non-SLR digital cameras was
somewhat pathetic. We phoned a nearby birder with an SLR who managed to
arrive quickly and take a few shots but I feel that none of the shots
portray the bird as it appeared in the field, especially the unique colour
of the upperparts and distribution of yellowish on the underparts.

Photos taken by Gilles Belliveau with a non-SLR can be viewed at the
following links:

http://stubird.dreamhost.com/P1130014.JPG
http://stubird.dreamhost.com/P1130025.JPG
http://stubird.dreamhost.com/P1130032.JPG
http://stubird.dreamhost.com/P1130045.JPG
http://stubird.dreamhost.com/P1130046.JPG

Photos taken by Durlan Ingersoll with a DSLR can be viewed here:

http://stubird.dreamhost.com/IMG_6056%20AF%2009-1_1.jpg
http://stubird.dreamhost.com/IMG_6058%20AF09-4_2.jpg
http://stubird.dreamhost.com/IMG_6060%20AF09-2_4.jpg

And finally one poor photo taken by me:

http://stubird.dreamhost.com/P1090437.JPG

There is only one documented record of Acadian Flycatcher for New
Brunswick (May 10, 1992) but there are several records for Nova Scotia and
Maine. To my knowledge there is no pattern of vagrancy in the northeast in
October.

I'd appreciate any comments from readers on features supporting or
contradicting Acadian that are visible in these admittedly marginal photos.

Thanks and Great Birding!

Stu Tingley
Shediac Cape, New Brunswick (Canada)


Join or Leave BIRDWG01: http://listserv.arizona.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=birdwg01

Archives: http://listserv.arizona.edu/archives/birdwg01.html