Rare Bird Report 17-B-08

Idaho Bird Records Committee Rarities Report Form

Species: Least Flycatcher

Reporter: (include address, phone, e-mail) Bob Davis, 173 Stone Run Ln, Idaho Falls, ID, 83404.  208-525-9452,  rhdavis@srv.net

Other Observers: None

Date Report Prepared:6/23/08

Date Sighting Occurred:  6/20/08

Locality of Observation: Jefferson Co.,  Butler Island, Snake River south bank, 100 yds  south of the railroad bridge, 3 mi. NW of Heise, DeLorme p. 41 C4

Habitat: River bottoms, cottonwoods.

Conditions: Bright, sunny, warm

Did you take notes…

            during the observation? ____________

            after the observation? ______________

            the same day? ____________________

            another day?______________________

            not at all? ___x_____________________

Did you consult a field guide or other reference work?

            during the observation?____________

            later the same day? ____x___________

            another day? _______x______________

            not at all? ________________________

What guide(s) or reference(s) did you consult? Sibley.   Kaufmann, Advanced Birding.   NGS 3^rd edition

Description: Small empidonax flycatcher.  Clearly an empid, wings bars, small grayish flycatcher.  Difficult to get good looks at the primary extension, or other structure marks, but the ID was made by sound.

Behavior: Sallying for insects.  Calling frequently.

How and when did you positively identify the bird, and what clinched the identification for you?  The bird was calling a constant Chi-BEK.   This is a distinct call which I recognized having heard the bird at Camas a few years ago.  I recorded the call and compared it to commercial recordings when I got home.

How did you eliminate similar species, and what were they?  By call the closest empid is the Hammond’s, the first part of whose call can sound like the chi-BEK of the Least, but the Least gives its call more emphatically and more constantly.  In the recording you can hear the chi-BEK repeated frequently and at short intervals. It sounds exactly like the recording on the Thayer’s Birds of North America CD-ROM and Peterson’s CD-ROM.

The throat appears white in the photos, not gray, eliminating Hammond’s and Dusky.  Primary projection appears too short and bill too long for Hammond’s.

Experience with this species (and similar species):  Have seen and heard this species several times at Camas, as well as the local empids.

General birding experience: About 12 years birding, mostly in Idaho but also trips to Texas, Arizona, California and Costa Rica.

Were photo(s), video, and/or audio obtained by you? (If yes, please include or attach).  Yes, have a digital sound recording.  I also have some low quality photos taken through my binoclulars.  The photos do not show the head or face well, but give an indication of primary projection, tail length and throat color. The one photo showing the face does not disclose an eyering, which may be hidden in the shadow.  Without having heard and recorded the bird, I would not have made the ID.

Recording