While I do not profess expertise in this matter, I just wanted to comment on the study by Baumann et. al in the Journal of Field Ornithology on distinguishing Western and yellow bellied flycatchers. While precise separation of these species required in-the-hand measurement of wing and buffy fringe lengths, as others have noted, the space between the proximal edge of the buffy fringing on the secondaries and lower wing bar was judged to be a good field mark, with a larger space favoring yellow-bellied.
Some have suggested that this article supports categorizing the Inwood flycatcher as yellow-bellied. Yet in the photo on page 395 used to illustrate this, the band between the lower wing bar and the top edge of the fringe is about 1/3 of the length of the visible secondaries on the yellow-bellied, while not more than 1/4 of this length on the western. Looking at some of the photos of the Inwood bird, the band is much closer to 1/4 than 1/3. While there may well be some variability in this feature in the field, if the photo from the article is an accurate representation of the validity of this field mark, it would suggest that the Inwood bird is more likely western than yellow-bellied, not the reverse. Peter (This message was resent as I could not find my first response on the list. Pardon any duplication.) > Begin forwarded message: > > From: Anders Peltomaa <anders.pelto...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: FW: [nysbirds-l] New Empidonax identification tip > Date: December 9, 2016 at 11:01:36 AM EST > To: Shaibal Mitra <shaibal.mi...@csi.cuny.edu> > Cc: "NYSBIRDS (NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu)" <NYSBIRDS-L@cornell.edu> > Reply-To: Anders Peltomaa <anders.pelto...@gmail.com> > > Thanks for the reminder Shai, > > Here is a link to a PDF of the article that Joe referenced. > > https://biology.unm.edu/Witt/pub_files/Baumann-etal-2014-JFO-yellow-Empid-ID-jofo12078.pdf > > good birding, > > Anders Peltomaa > Manhattan > > On Fri, Dec 9, 2016 at 9:12 AM, Shaibal Mitra <shaibal.mi...@csi.cuny.edu> > wrote: > >> In a really nice example of how this list serves as institutional memory >> for our community, Dave Klauber just reminded me of this very relevant post >> from Joe DiCostanzo, from December 2014. It details the foundation of the >> wing pattern feature mentioned in the Whatbird discussions, and I would >> agree that this feature also favors Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. >> >> It's not fun to admit this, but the things I learn nowadays don't stick >> with me to nearly the same degree as the things I learned before, say 2000! >> So n.b. to those whose brains are still limber: don't put off learning >> until later, front-load the data hoarding as much as possible! >> ________________________________ >> From: bounce-118614530-3714...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-118614530-3714613@ >> list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Joe DiCostanzo <jdic...@nyc.rr.com> >> Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2014 7:24 PM >> To: NYSBirds >> Subject: [nysbirds-l] New Empidonax identification tip >> >> >> Just got the current issue of the Journal of Field Ornithology (vol. 85, >> no. 4, December 2014). I figure this is not a journal that most birders >> check for ID articles so I thought I would draw attention to an article in >> it: “Simple technique for distinguishing Yellow-bellied Flycatchers from >> Cordilleran and Pacific-slope flycatchers by M. J. Baumann, S. C. Galen, N. >> D. Pederson and C. C. Witt. Pp. 391-396. Anyone interested should read the >> article for all the details, many of which involve measurements that can >> only be done in the hand, but there is one character that can be used to >> distinguish Yellow-bellied Flycatcher from “Western Flycatcher” (the >> complex composed of Cordilleran and Pacific-slope flys.). It involves the >> space on the folded wing between the lower wing bar and the start of the >> pale fringes on the secondaries. This space is much larger in the >> Yellow-bellied than in the “Western”. I pulled out a few field guides from >> my bookshelf to see if it was distinguishable in published illustrations. I >> found it was apparent in the photos in Kenn Kaufman’s Birds of North >> America (at least in the first edition that I have). It was also obvious in >> Dave Sibley’s paintings of these species in his Second Edition of the >> Sibley Guide to Birds (I didn’t check the first edition). The authors of >> the Journal of Field Ornithology article tested their technique on 113 >> museum specimens that had been identified based on locality. They found >> their technique correctly place 112 of the specimens. One specimen labeled >> as a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher that had been collected in Illinois was >> identified as a “Western Flycatcher” by their technique. Amazingly, when >> the mtDNA of this specimen was examined, the specimen proved to be a >> “Western Flycatcher”, the first for the complex for Illinois! >> >> >> >> Distinguishing a Yellow-bellied Fly from a “Western Fly” has not come up >> yet in New York, but hey, you never know. >> >> >> >> Joe DiCostanzo >> >> www.greatgullisland.org<http://www.greatgullisland.org/> >> >> www.inwoodbirder.blogspot.com<http://www.inwoodbirder.blogspot.com> >> >> [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zlSALCVoYnM/U0SFqj6uWfI/ >> AAAAAAAAAWQ/xYjr3pf15r0/s80/Joe.jpg]<http://www.inwoodbirder.blogspot.com/ >>> >> >> Inwood Birder<http://www.inwoodbirder.blogspot.com/> >> www.inwoodbirder.blogspot.com >> A very pretty morning in the Ramble for my Thursday morning AMNH bird walk >> group. It would have been an even prettier morning if there had been more >> birds around! >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> NYSbirds-L List Info: >> Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME> >> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES> >> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/ >> NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> >> Archives: >> The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@ >> cornell.edu/maillist.html> >> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> >> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html> >> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! >> -- >> >> -- >> >> NYSbirds-L List Info: >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES >> http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm >> >> ARCHIVES: >> 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html >> 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L >> 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html >> >> Please submit your observations to eBird: >> http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ >> >> -- >> >> > > -- > > NYSbirds-L List Info: > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES > http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm > > ARCHIVES: > 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html > 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L > 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html > > Please submit your observations to eBird: > http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ > > -- -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
