[MDOsprey] Re: Late Empid
Robert Ringler (ringler@cct.infi.net)
Thu, 28 Oct 1999 20:18:49 -0700
Marshall, and others,
Sorry for the delay in responding but e-mail has been a problem
recently. Concerning Marshall's question about the late Yellow-bellied
Flycatchers in the Yellow Book I have in my file 24 reports of October
Yellow-bellieds. Of these, three are prior to the modern era (before
1946), 15 of the 24 are from the 1st to the 10th of the month and the
other nine from the 11th to the 26th. The latest eight reports include 6
bandings and 2 window strikes. The latest was banded Oct. 26, 1955 in
Monkton by Steve Simon. So, in the past 54 years there have been 21
reports of Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in October, and only 5 of the 21
would I call field observations.
I doubt that the bird can be positively identified from the
description though it is certainly suggestive of one of the "Westerns".
Is Least Flycatcher definitely ruled out?
By the way, I do not believe there are an unusual number of
lingering birds this fall, just an unusual number of talented observers
in the field doing a good job of reporting. Wish you were here,
Marshall, to add a few more lingerers to the list.
Bob Ringler