Possible Nutting's Flycatcher, Rio Grande Village of Big Bend National Park

*UPDATE* 12 Dec 2013 This bird continues to be seen and photographed.  Antonio has retrieved additional photos and video.  Written description of vocalization differences between this bird and neighboring Ash-throated Flycatcher are promising.
HOWEVER, recorded audio of the possible Nutting's vocalization STILL NEEDS to be obtained.  

Remember that playback is prohibited in National Parks.  Not necessary here anyways..

*UPDATE* North American Rare Bird Alert (NARBA) "Dec 9: negative reports."


On Dec. 7th, an interesting Myiarchus flycatcher was photographed by Antonio Cantu near the Rio Grande Village campground at Big Bend National Park. It was seen along a paved service road.

Heavily cropped photos from Antonio Cantu (his original files are HUGE):

7 Dec 2013, possible Nutting's Flycatcher, © Antonio Cantu

7 Dec 2013, possible Nutting's Flycatcher, © Antonio Cantu

There have been two Ash-throated Flycatchers reported from the RGV campground since late November, so it's possible that 2-3 Myiarchus are in the area, just to keep folks on their toes.

Photos of a VERY bright-bellied Ash-throated Flycatcher were taken by Mark Flippo on Dec. 8th from the campground, so it's not a very cut-and-dry search.

8 Dec 2013, Ash-throated Flycatcher, © Mark Flippo

8 Dec 2013, Ash-throated Flycatcher, © Mark Flippo

And the search continues with Kelly Bryan and Carolyn Ohl-Johnson on the trail today... will keep everyone updated as we know. Will try to post additional photos as possible.

*** This would be a second state record if confirmed, for all NUFL posts on the blog, please check the tag in the side bar, or click here: Nutting's Flycatcher.

The ultimate goal is audio, due to tricky visual ID - for that, please see our coverage of Chris Benesh's commentary and spectrogram work on the first bird here.

Looking back on 2012

2012 in review... something of a daunting task, but we generally do a semi-annual update and the timing is about right for one. Let the festival of links begin!

Changes and challenges:

In somewhat exciting news, we've decided to branch out a bit - we've always done informal guiding, but now we've actually listed regional guiding here on the blog. Regardless of skill level, we're more than happy to introduce folks to the birds (and butterflies) or general nature of the region; Marathon is our home turf, but as long as our schedules work out, we're quite happy to help out with Balmorhea, the Davis Mountains and whatever else suits you. Year listers, county listers, target birding or simply soaking up the region - we'd be happy to help. 

It was also in 2012 that eBird reviewing for Reeves and Pecos Counties fell into play: Pecos hasn't even been touched yet, but the learning curve has gone from vertical to... still pretty steep. It's all in the name of progress, right? Speaking of progress, there's another Sul Ross State University grad in the family! After 9 years, 7 moves, 3 schools and 2 states, Heidi finished ~160 hours of a B.A.

This was also the first year that both of us were recruited to co-lead trips for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. For 2011 we were tied up with a booth, so 2012 was a bit more freeing, even if that free time was used to track down speaker/sponsor/leader people for the summer festival!

Last year saw 131 blog posts here, peaking in July with 20 posts. Can't imagine why... we only assembled the finest crew of Texas birders with Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman in attendance!

From left to right: Cameron Carver, Kelly Bryan, Matthew York, Heidi Trudell, Kimberly Kaufman, Kenn Kaufman, and Steve Gross. Mark Flippo disappeared in the photo; ninjas do not show up in photographs. Photo by Patty Pasztor.

Blog factoids and people aside, it was quite a year for birds in our region (roughly Brewster, Jeff Davis and Reeves Counties), including but not limited to:
January - Nutting's Flycatcher, a life bird for both of us!)
April - Swainson's and Hermit Wablers
August - Black-billed Cuckoo, Black-throated Green Warbler
October - Sabine's Gull - another double life bird, Varied Thrush, Surf Scoter and Red Phalarope
November - Williamson's Sapsucker* (usually in Jeff Davis Co, not Marathon!)
December - Red Crossbill - it most certainly has been Winter of the Crossbills, and not just for our region. They've been reported all over the southern states and throughout much of Texas. In December we also snuck off to Lubbock to see a double-life Northern Shrike!

Most cooperative non-passerine of the year goes to a pair of Zone-tailed Hawks that cooperated for the festival, tending to their large nestling (still in nest) in front of a group of ~15 or so folks!

Zone-tailed Hawk (Buteo albonotatus), photo by Matt York.

...but let's not forget the butterflies that made this year amazing:
Palmer's Metalmark stole the show for the entire summer and well into fall. Common Mestras made an exceptional appearance nearly daily in our yard - not that they ever landed - and made a surge throughout the state. And Big Bend? Diversity was fantastic, and we only made it down there a few times! The festival list was also quite impressive.

Arizona Sister (Adelpha eulalia), photo by Matt York.

Moths took on a whole new meaning to us in 2012, with regular sessions: Summer was great for blacklighting big moths and medium moths and little moths, but the fall threw amazing diversity at us. Biggest miss of the year: Mexican Agapema. We must have slept through it. But, really, the mothy highlight of the year: Plagiomimicus olvello, our beloved Planet Arium Moth.

Planet Arium Moth (Plagiomimicus olvello), photo by Matt York.

It will be interesting to see what 2013 brings; we're already off to a good start with more Red Crossbills and a Rough-legged Hawk! Rumor has it that August 8-11 will be the next birding festival out here, but details are still in the works.

Happy New Year and happy trails,
-Heidi & Matt

Probable Nutting's Flycatcher - update!

Santa Elena trailhead sightings:
Fri. Jan. 20th: YES (details pending)
***
Sun. Jan. 16th: pending
Sat. Jan. 15th: NO* (park staff said someone saw the bird, but no details were provided)
Fri. Jan. 14th: NO
Thu. Jan. 12th: AM - NO YES, 9:25 for 5 mins, PM - NO (morning details unclear)
Wed. Jan. 11th: AM - YES details pending, PM - unknown
Tue. Jan. 10th: Not seen between 9:30 am and 5 pm
Mon. Jan. 9th: AM - YES (9-9:30), PM - unknown
Sun. Jan. 8th: unknown
Sat. Jan. 7th: AM - NO, PM - YES (2-3)
Fri. Jan. 6th: AM - YES (?), (absent 11-1) PM - YES (1-2)
Thu. Jan. 5th: YES (12:35-1)
Wed. Jan. 4th: AM - YES (9-?), PM - unknown
Tue. Jan 3rd: unknown
Mon. Jan. 2nd: AM - unknown, PM - 12-1

Edit: due to drought conditions, all precautions should be taken to ensure that no food or trash is left to prevent park wildlife from being attracted to the area.

Until further notice, click here for all previous Nutting's Flycatcher posts!

The bird seems to stick to a clockwise pattern, starting near the trail head, working around the parking lot and traffic island, past the bathrooms and vanishing toward the river. Today's Santa Elena trailhead observation was preceded by a "small Myiarchus" sighting at the canyon overlook - the bird flew down from that site toward the trailhead and was found within minutes. It may be moving around more with the cold weather to get sufficient forage, so folks may want to bring radios and split up with someone at the overlook, someone (or two) at the trailhead and perhaps someone around the Cottonwood Campground. It's present, just not sticking to a set schedule.

Just for fun. Recent, record, memories.

Nutting's Flycatcher (Myiarchus nuttingi)
Santa Elena Canyon, BBNP, TX
2 January 2012

Heidi was busy staying at the ready to record vocalizations; that, far more important than photographs at the time. This allowed me to have fun with the still camera. We have many photos which we are very happy and pleased with.

Heidi was successful in obtaining the first vocal recordings of this individual.

Many thanks to Chrish Benesh, Myiarchus expert, with his spectrograph analysis of the initial recordings and the subsequent.

This, once approved by the Texas Bird Record Committee, will be a 1st TX record.

Happy New Year it was.

Nutting's Flycatcher - the basics

(This post is backdated for convenience!)

In one image, here is why a Nutting's Flycatcher in Texas is so cool: that purple? That's where Nutting's Flycatchers live. That's a pretty long way from any part of Texas!


(Image snagged from NatureServe via birdphotos.com)

...and here's another look at the same range. It's basically very, very lost.

Another challenge in ID: since it's not really supposed to be in the US at all, most North American field guides don't even cover it. Nutting's Flycatcher isn't in either of the "small" Sibley Guides (or even the "big" one!), old Petersons, or very old National Geographic guides. While it is in the two new Nat. Geo. guides... all of the flycatchers in the Myiarchus complex still pretty much look the same and you really want audio recordings to make sure it sounds different than the other flycatchers in the complex.

The visual challenge:



See? No Nutting's Flycatcher (this is from the revamped Peterson Guide)

All of this information means that getting ample documentation to prove that the Santa Elena bird is 'none of the above' is a challenge, especially because so few birders are in such a remote area. Once all of the expected North American Myiarchus flycatchers have been ruled out, building the case for Nutting's is up to photographers, note-scribblers, audio files and experts. Ultimately the identification will have to pass the highest scrutiny that the state has to offer: the Texas Bird Records Committee. If the case for Nutting's Flycatcher isn't strong enough, it will not be accepted for the state list. Thankfully, due to many observers, multiple observations and the amassed pile of documentation submitted by so many thorough observers (including several TBRC members!) this bird is a strong candidate. Had it been seen/heard by one individual and not photographed and never refound, the case would be much more challenging.

This is the beauty of science. Keep your eyes and ears open - and know what to expect in your area, it makes the unusual much easier to pick out!

Jan 4th flycatcher audio

Audio via Kelly Bryan, youtube version via Tony Gallucci:



Click here for original audio clips from Jan. 2

Also, this blog now has a tag for Nutting's Flyatcher, since related posts are likely to be bumped off the main blog page due to frequency - so for all NUFL related posts on the blog, see "Nutting's Flycatcher" in the right sidebar under "Labels" or click here.

***

Analysis of second recording, via Chris Benesh:











Hi All,

At Tony Gallucci's request, here is a spectrogram of Kelly Bryan's recent recordings of the Big Bend Myiarchus flycatcher. To my ear, these calls sound much like those of Nutting's that I hear in Mexico, though finding a close match in recordings was more challenging than I anticipated. That said, there are a couple of examples in a cut of mine from Sonora, Mexico, and a few similar ones from Nathan Pieplow's recording from Sinaloa, Mexico that can be heard on the Xeno Canto website XC3982. The modulation of the Big Bend bird is slightly slower than the two comparative examples, but each individual bird gives such a variable spectrum of calls it's not too surprising that it's not an exact match. I'm convinced the Big Bend bird is a Nutting's based on the photos and vocal evidence. I would not be surprised if some more strident "wheep" calls are heard at some point.

Audio spectrogram and commentary

Audio spectrogram and commentary via Chris Benesh:









Hey Heidi, that would be fine to post. I wrote up my thoughts about the Nutting's and have tried several unsuccessful ways to post it to TEXBIRDS. If you want to use any of it on your blog, that would be fine too.


Yesterday, John Arvin alerted me to the fact that a possible Nutting's Flycatcher had been seen in Big Bend and sent me a link to some photos. I also listened to Heidi Trudell's video grabs that contains a few vocalizations of the Big Bend bird. I am fortunate enough to see Nutting's Flycatcher on a pretty regular basis (as well as some of its congeners too), and believe that both the photos and the audio support the identification of Nutting's. While the fidelity of the recordings is poor, it does document one of the characteristic sounds of Nutting's, a two-noted stutter call. I'm used to hearing the call when birds are slightly more vocal and excited than the bird in the video, but it matches quite well with a comparative example from a Nutting's I recorded in Oaxaca.

Steve Glover is right to express caution over trying to identify Myiarchus by sight/photos alone. Nutting's and Ash-throated are indeed very similar. And photos can be particularly deceptive at times. Voice is clearest means of identification. Mouth lining color is often tricky to see and frequently equivocal or mis-interpreted. A really bright orange color would be diagnostic, but pinky-orange, not so much. Structure is pretty good. Nutting's is a smaller bird, sometimes looking more round-headed (depending on mood) and overall more delicate than Ash-throated. It tends to be more brightly colored, with lots of browns on the head, and lacking gray feathering on the forehead and less around the nape, compared with Ash-throateds. It is also shorter-billed than an Ash-throated. These features can be seen in the published photos. The edgings on the secondaries and primaries are more blended than on non juvenile Ash-throateds. That is, once an Ash-throated has undergone a preformative molt, the rusty edged primaries contrast pretty sharply with the more whitish edges secondaries. There is less contrast in Nutting's, with the outer secondaries being more buff-dull rufous colored, thus contrasting less with the primaries. This pattern can be seen on the Big Bend bird. I suspect what confused some birders viewing the Monterey, California bird mentioned by Steve was the retention of a few rusty-edged juvenile secondaries (typically present on birds in formative plumage), which diminished the apparent contrast between primaries and secondaries. The Big Bend bird shows a classic Nutting's tail pattern too. A similar pattern is only rarely shown by Ash-throated, and in such instances, there is still usually greater contrast between the brown and rufous bits (i.e. Nutting's has a more blended tail pattern blurring the boundaries between brown and rufous).

I guess it is worth mentioning that the above applies to the inquietus subspecies of Nutting's since southern populations are somewhat different either in plumage or voice.

Good birding,

Chris

probable Nutting's Flycatcher video

**Scroll down two posts for AUDIO alluded to by TX-Birds and NARBA**

Often, it can be difficult to get a sense of shape and size in a still image. This bird is a small and (dare I say?) dainty Myiarchus species. I will rarely use these adjectives, particularly the latter, to describe an Ash-throated Flycatcher that so many of us are familiar with.

Again, the hour spent with the bird on 2 Jan. 2011 was a joy; fun to observe and momentarily live alongside.

In the end, here is a little charisma which it certainly has.

**Well, uploading the file destroyed the clarity at full-screen.** The direct file we have is clear.

probable Nutting's Flycatcher pics

**Scroll down one post for AUDIO**

Probable Nutting's Flycatcher

Here's some craptacular audio - we were competing with a generator and a kid learning to whistle. Taken at the trail head parking lot at Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park - observed from about noon until 1 pm with only 3 separate vocalizations heard during that time. Pics to follow. The video clips below are for audio purposes only!





Part 1: faint, two call notes (of 3 - we missed the first note of each vocalization) in the first few seconds. Clearer than the next batch....





Part 2: VERY faint, a few light notes in the first few seconds. Crank up the volume!


*EDIT* Some just received TX-Birds back story from the party that found this bird. Click Here.

Sorry to fling out a hasty post, will flesh it out when possible. Audio taken with point-and-shoot options, thus you can't even find the bird in the videos!

*EDIT* A link to the archive of Matt's post to TX-Birds list-serv. This was posted when we arrived home that same day. Click Here.