November 2000 Field Journal 11.4, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Archery Range, Golden Gate Park, SF
Photo links added 30 December
Revised 14 November based on insight obtained from Les Chibana.
This morning, I got a late start and was pleased to find out that the DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER found by Kevin McKerrigan was still present at the archery range in Golden Gate Park. I trundled out to the archery range and found Rich Ferrick, Brian Fitch and several other twitchers waiting patiently for the bird. Photos and an additional description of this bird can be found here.The bird hadn't been seen in a half hour or more, so I immediately embarked on beating the bushes for the bird. I passed through the hedgerow into the actual archery range. At that point, Christy Nelson located the bird in the midst of dense myoporum/pittisporum. However, it flushed and the hunt continued.
Rich then refound the bird on the east side of the hedgerow, but it flushed before I could get back to where Rich had seen it. With Rich's description, I moved into the thicket proper, occasionally whistling its call note. Suddenly, I got an answer, higher in pitched than I was expecting. The location of the bird was tantalizingly close, but neither myself in the dense foliage nor the rest of the birders could see the bird.
At this point, Brian had the good sense to move back to the west side of the thicket and he or someone else in that group refound the bird perching on various perches in and near the large dead conifer at the east end of the archery range. I moved out to the west edge of the thicket and Brian called me over. I briefly saw the bird flush from two perches somewhat back from the edge of the foliage, but then the bird came to the west edge of the foliage and put on a spectacular show allowing quite good looks and extended observation.
The following description was written shortly after the observation.
An obvious myiarchus flycatcher giving the general impression of being slightly smaller than an ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER. The bill was quite long for a relatively small bird, looking almost disproportionately large for the size of the bird. The bill length was easily twice if not three times the distance from the eye to the base of the bill. The maxilla was entirely dark while the mandible was dark for the distal 3/4 of the bill, turning paler at the base. The bill was quite wide at the base, appearing to be nearly as wide as the head of the bird when viewed from below. Eye color appeared dark in the fog of the day.
The crown was noticeably peaked and colored a slightly warm brown, contrasting slightly with the colder brown of the auricular feathers. The nape was also colder brown, contrasting with crown. When viewed head-on. the bird's head was noticeably thin, not much wider than the bill. The back was one shade of green away from gray, giving the appearance of fading due to wear. The rump was unobserved. The throat and lower face were white, with the white just hinting at extending up beyond the rear of the auriculars in some postures. The white on the throat continued to the upper breast, turning to pale yellow. The rest of the breast, the belly, flanks and undertail coverts appeared to be uniformly colored pale yellow. The legs were black.
The rectrices were quite remarkable. First of all, the outer and perhaps all of them were noticeable translucent, with the outer retrices approaching almost transparency. From below, the coloration of the rectrices was noticeably tinged rufous, though it's not clear whether the coloration was coming from upper surfaces or the lower surfaces due to the translucency of the webs. In retrospect, it's not clear whether the coloration and opacity of the rectrices was due to wear or to newly molted feathers. Despite the length of the observation, the coloration of the upper rectrices was not observed.
The flight feathers were cold brown, the same color as the auriculars. The primaries and secondaries edges were noticeably tinged rufous, though some were so worn that the rufous was barely noticeable. The tertials were edged in white, noticeable contrasting with most of the secondaries and also showed quite a bit of wear. The greater coverts were noticeably worn on the edges, almost giving the impression of a lower wing-bar. The median coverts were also badly worn, giving the impression of a well-defined wing bar. The coverts were slightly warmer in coloration, contrasting with the alula which was cold brown.
The bird perched on various different snags for the duration of the observation in typical flycatcher behavior. I do not recall it catching anything to eat. The bird vocalized several times, always giving a plaintive "peeur" note, descending in pitch at the end. The pitch varied by several notes, and seemed higher than my recollection from previous observations both in California from wintering birds and from Southeastern Arizona for summering birds.
Analysis:
Quite frankly, DCFL is the only myiarchus flycatcher one expects in late fall in Northern California, but the possibility of a very late ATFL needs to be explored. For completeness, other myiarchus flycatchers are considered.
The tail pattern is problematic. Neither Sibley nor NGS show describe the tail pattern of any myiarchus flycatcher having uniformly pale rufous rectrices when viewed below. Probably the closest would be GREAT-CRESTED FLYCATCHER, if you assume the that the outer 20% of the webs were missing due to wear, but this is a reach at best. Perhaps a more plausible explanation is that, under extreme wear, the feathers lighten up and acquire a pale rufous tinge. This appears to be consistent with other feather tracts on the bird, e.g., the wing coverts, but this is at best speculation. Also, neither of the aforementioned field guides mention any pale at the base of the mandible, though this is clearly visible in the photo on the cover of Western Birds, Vol. 31, No. 2, 2000.
Fortunately, other field marks are more helpful. Secondaries tinged rufous is, in fact, diagnostic for DCFL. Also, the call note, the mournful descending "peeur", also is diagnostic for DCFL. The large bill and small size are also good for DCFL. While the tail pattern is equivocal (undescribed?), the other field marks uniquely identify the bird as a DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER.
11.5 [SFBirds] I almost forgot...
...my zeal to write up the DUSKY-CAPPED FLYCATCHER, there was also a
SLATE-COLORED JUNCO at North Lake, foraging on the ground near all the
stumps and plantings west of the isthmus in North Lake. Nice photo op.11.9 [SFBirds] Yep, it's slow out there...
...there was a third-party report of a LUCIFER HUMMINGBIRD in the Arboretum in
Joe's class last night. I have no further details...
11.17 [SFBirds] Tropical Kingbird at Fort Mason
Mac MacCormack (sp?) reported a Tropical Kingbird at Fort Mason today.Home
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