flycatcher ?

[johnny27]

i took this last june in cossta rica is it a great kiskadee or flycatcher?

[forktail]

i took this last june in cossta rica is it a great kiskadee or flycatcher?

Hi Johnny

I think the overall size of the bird and lack of any rufous in the wing/tail point to something like White-ringed / Boat-billed but I'm having trouble will the bill which looks very light for a Boat-billed. Then again the culmen appears rather convex and the bill perhaps a touch large, going against Social Flycatcher but it still looks a ways off a decent Boat-billed?. The olive back and super meeting above the bill narrows it down a lot and Great Kiskadee would have rufous wing edgings etc... so we're left with White-ringed I think? It's the one out of the possibilities that I haven't seen though. I don't recall having seen a Boat-billed away from trees... and I've only seen a few of each on birding hols so I'm not really qualified to say a deal more...

White-ringed: http://images18.fotki.com/v329/photos/1/1257/3834544/IMG_6428-vi.jpg

F.

[AndyB]

I'd probably agree too. Bill too bulky for Social and not monster enough for Boat-billed and then there's the plumage notes given above.

[johnny27]

thanks for info i didnt mention where i saw it it was on the north pacific coast which put me of the white ringed

[johnny27]

just noticed the link that shows the picture of white ringed it looks likely to me many thanks

[Alex Lees]

i took this last june in cossta rica is it a great kiskadee or flycatcher?

Hi Johnny

Size and structure rule out everything apart from Great Kiskadee and Boat-billed Flycatcher (Conopias and Myiozetestes flycatchers are much smaller). Boat-bill is more arboreal (cf. Skutch 1951 (http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v068n01/p0030-p0049.pdf) & pers obs) but I wouldn't add too much weight to that as both are adaptable synanthropes. The birds head is turned towards the camera which makes the bill appear more massive than it actually is, if you lighten and sharpen the image the bill size appears to become slighter. The image is slightly out of focus and underexposed and I'm not sure how true the colours are. Consequently I'm not sure how certain we can be that this bird doesn't show any rufous on the coverts, see the 'apparent' variation in these images (http://www1.nhl.nl/~ribot/english/pisu_ng.htm). It would be nice to see another image but I'd be quietly confident that this bird is a Great Kiskadee.

cheers

Alex

[forktail]

It would be nice to see another image but I'd be quietly confident that this bird is a Great Kiskadee.

cheers

Alex

Hi Alex

I was fully expecting it to be a Great Kiskadee when I opened up the jpeg. Wouldn't expect any of the others to be on the deck really? And white-ringed is a Caribbean bird (checked in Skutch) Can anyone comment on these birds showing a lack of rufous in pix if not in real life?

F.

[johnny27]

many thanks im afraid i cant find any other photos of this bird

[birdboybowley]

Bill wrong for White-ringed..can't see it being anything other than Great Kiskadee

[Alex Lees]

Hi Alex

I was fully expecting it to be a Great Kiskadee when I opened up the jpeg. Wouldn't expect any of the others to be on the deck really? And white-ringed is a Caribbean bird (checked in Skutch) Can anyone comment on these birds showing a lack of rufous in pix if not in real life?

F.

Hi Tim

The photos I linked-to in my last post, show GRKI apparently lacking rufous tones, I haven't ever seen this in real life, although they can look quite faded in the tropical sun. White-ringed Flycatcher is unknown in the Caribbean sensu strictu (see attached file)

cheers

Alex

ps. have you sorted yourself out for an aPalling Great-spotted Cuckoo yet?