{"id":878,"date":"2015-09-14T03:03:14","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T03:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/?p=878"},"modified":"2022-08-01T15:50:59","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T15:50:59","slug":"least-yellow-bellied-flycatcher-id-autumn-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/?p=878","title":{"rendered":"Least & Yellow-bellied Flycatcher ID: autumn birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

By late summer \/ early fall, some adult Yellow-bellied Flycatchers may appear grayish white below\u2026a far cry from their deep and bright early-spring finery; most of their fall molt is completed after their arrival in the wintering grounds.<\/p>\n

All eastern Empidonax flycatchers can show buff-yellowish tones throughout the underside, and, when availing a fleeting view in certain lighting conditions, can appear similar to Yellow-bellied throughout the underside, except for the throat. Just yesterday I was taken aback re: how bright and colorful one Least Fly\u2019 was; for a split second, I thought for certain it was a Yellow-bellied.<\/p>\n

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Photo<\/strong>: A comparison of a relatively drab Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (right) with a Least Flycatcher (photographed by Kyle Blaney,\u00a0http:\/\/www.kyleblaney.com\/<\/a>, at left).<\/p>\n

\"11892215_10155910906140526_230890646678460415_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo<\/strong>: A comparison of a relatively drab Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (right) with a Least Flycatcher (photographed by Kyle Blaney, http:\/\/www.kyleblaney.com\/<\/a>, at left). Ventral view.<\/p>\n

Identification notes<\/strong><\/p>\n

With Yellow-bellied Flycatcher<\/strong>, the overall GISS is that of an especially large and round-headed flycatcher with a moderate primary projection and a proportionally short tail. Note the high-contrast between the jet black wing and the green back; the orange-yellow lower mandible to its proportionally stout bill; and its dusky-yellow throat is unique among eastern Empids. Generally, the eye ring is quite pronounced, esp. along the posterior edge, and sometimes shows a light teardrop shape. The high-contrast black wing -> greenish upperparts is consistent regardless of the age\/molt scenario. Personally, that\u2019s my go-to for distant, flitting birds. With Least Flycatcher<\/strong>, the overall gestalt is that of a large-headed flycatcher with a relatively short primary projection and a short and thin tail. The tones throughout the upperparts are light-medium brownish-gray; the throat is off-white and shows contrast with the medium brown-gray to the sides of the head; the eye ring is usually quite bright and well-defined; and the bill is relatively small re: both its width and its length.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kaufman, K. 1990. Advanced Birding. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA.<\/p>\n

Whitney, B. and K. Kaufman. 1985b. The Empidonax Challenge: looking at Empidonax. Part II: Least, Hammond\u2019s, and Dusky flycatchers. Birding 17: 277-287.<\/p>\n

Whitney, B. and K. Kaufman. 1986b. The Empidonax Challenge: looking at Empidonax. Part IV: Acadian, Yellow-bellied, and Western flycatchers. Birding 18: 315-327.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By late summer \/ early fall, some adult Yellow-bellied Flycatchers may appear grayish white below\u2026a far cry from their deep and bright early-spring finery; most of their fall molt is completed after their arrival in the wintering grounds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=878"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23183,"href":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions\/23183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eontbird.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}