[TN-Bird] Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Greene Co., TN)

From: Don Miller <raincrow@xxxxxxx>
To: TN-Bird <TN-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Bristol-birds <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Butternuts <butternuts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 00:14:39 -0400

September 9, 2005
[posted September 10, 2005]

At around 7:00 p.m. on September 9, I found a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (YBFL) near Tusculum in Greene County.

The exact location was along Brown's Bridge Road approximately 0.4 mile from its intersection with Holly Creek Road. The site is about a quarter mile north of the Nolichuckey River. This area of the county is rural to semi-rural, with abundant woodlots of varying sizes scattered throughout farmland increasingly giving way to residential subdivisions. Much of the river in this area has wooded riparian zone. The site where I found the bird is near several large woodlots with fairly mature trees but is also adjacent to a livestock pasture. The flycatcher was present alongside the road in a lush tangle of saplings, shrubs, honeysuckle, tall forbs, and unmown grasses. It generally remained at or just above eye level, with occasional dips into the rank growth further down, at a distance of about 30 feet. I saw it well with 10x binoculars for several minutes.

I would not attempt to identify a YBFL on the basis of visual cues alone, though the bird did present many characteristics strongly suggestive of this species. It was quite small, about the size of a typical Dendroica warbler, with an even, thin eye-ring. The head was rounded and appeared large in proportion to the body. The bird appeared "neckless." The tail was quite short. The primary tips appeared to be short, or at least not noticeably long as in Eastern Wood-Pewee or Olive-sided Flycatcher. The wingbars were strongly tinged with buff. The underparts showed a noticeable yellowish wash from throat to belly. The bill was short and showed a bright salmon color on the lower mandible.

For much of the time that I viewed the bird, I saw active flicking of the wings and tail, especially the wings. I was reminded of the similar behavior of Ruby-crowned Kinglets.

The overall impression created by the bird was that of a "nervous," yellow-tinged Least Flycatcher. I am very familiar with Least, Willow, Alder, and Acadian Flycatchers from years of observations in our area, and I never found anything about this bird to be suggestive of Willow or Alder. The small size and short bill alone seemed to rule out those species. I don't recall ever seeing an Acadian Flycatcher proportioned like a Least, so I tended to rule out that species as well. The regular wing-flicking and noticeable yellow on the underparts made me doubt that I was seeing a Least Flycatcher.

Fortunately, I did not have to rely on visual cues. In fact, I was able to observe the bird and note these details only because I was initially alerted to its presence by its call note, which sounded like "puwee," "chewee," or "tawee" and which was reminiscent of the evening call of Eastern Wood-Pewee though lacking that call's clear, sweet quality. The bird called repeatedly. I must have heard at least a dozen calls before I ever saw it. Although I'm not familiar with the call notes of YBFL, I am familiar with the common calls of our four regular Empidonax species and with calls of other area flycatchers, and I've never heard anything from any of them that sounded the same as this call. In all, I heard the vocalization over two dozen times, and there was little variation in the calls.

Later, I compared the call to a recording of the common "tuwee" call of Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. I could tell no difference. The characteristic upslurred, two-syllabled quality of the call on the tape was a tight fit with what I had heard. At no time had I heard anything different or suggestive of another species.

I am aware of one other report of Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in Greene County. On September 11, 1973, James G. Holt of Greeneville sighted a bird that he reported as a YBFL. The record appears in v. 44 of The Migrant, on p. 102. [James G. Holt, who lived in Greeneville in the 1970's, should not be confused with James B. Holt, a current member of Greeneville TOS.]

Don Miller
Greeneville, Greene Co., TN

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[TN-Bird] Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Greene Co., TN)

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