Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in Alaska
Now that the frenetic spring and summer breeding season is over and my schedule has eased up I have some time to post photos of this summer’s adventures. One of the highlights of my summer was a short trip that Bob Dittrick and I took to a nondescript ridge called Deadhorse Pass on the Eureka Road off of the Elliot Highway. We had just returned to Fairbanks after a three week stint in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and had only two days break in the schedule before Bob headed back into the Refuge and I headed for Nome.
The Eureka Road is about a three hour drive north and west of Fairbanks and is the location of the first Yellow-bellied Flycatcher nest found in Alaska. Yellow-bellied Flycatchers have been recorded irregularly in the spring in east-central Alaska for a number of years (mostly singing males). The species has also been caught at banding sights in Fairbanks and Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge. The Eureka Road population was discovered in 2004 and was nicely written up in Western Birds volume 37, number 1 which you can find here:
We arrived on the ridge around 4 PM on July 3rd but the only empid that we heard that afternoon was a Hammond’s Flycatcher–one bird called once. We birded the rest of the afternoon and finally hit the sleeping bags around 11 PM. At 2:16 AM we awoke to the whine of mosquitoes and the distinctive song of the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher! Despite the very encouraging start to the early morning we did not get satisfactory views of the bird until around 7:30 AM when I managed these photos.
The bird spent much of the morning calling from dense trees for about 10-15 minutes at a time before going completely silent. After about 20-30 minutes of silence we would again hear it from an entirely different locations some distance away. So went the morning until after about five hours with only brief views of the bird we began to discern a pattern to its circuit. We finally parked ourselves on a patch of mossy slope and waited near one the stands. After about 30 minutes (I fell asleep) Bob spotted the bird in the open and its distinctive song jarred me from my sleep. We watched the birds until around 9 AM and enjoyed great views. We were able to snap a few photos and get comparison looks of Hammond’s Flycatcher as well.
In contrast, reports from birders who had visited the site earlier in the season reported having the birds singing and showing well at the pull-out where looks were easily obtained from the parking area. What a difference a week makes a to a flycatcher in July!
Sunrise circa 2:45 AM on the ridge. The Yell0w-bellied Flycatcher began singing at 2:16 AM.
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Empidonax flaviventris, Eureka Road, 4 July 2010.
Note the bold eye-ring, bic0lored bill, and yellowish wash to the belly and throat. The song is diagnostic and this individual gave it’s clear “chebunk” call throughout much of the morning.
There was at least one other calling Yellow-bellied Flycatcher in the area as well as a Hammond’s Flycatcher E. hammondii and several Alder Flycatchers E. alnorum. The Alder Flycatchers were in thicker shrub on the other side of the ridge, but the Hammond’s was in the same area as this Yellow-bellied and when the two would come into contact the Yell0w-bellied would aggressively chase the Hammond’s away. The Hammond’s was noticeably grayer overall with less contrast between the wing coverts and the back and lacked yellow on the underparts. The bill of the Hammond’s Flycatcher was distinctly shorter and narrower, looking dainty when compared to that of the Yellow-bellied. The distal half of the lower mandible was dark. We heard the Hammond’s call only a few times throughout the morning, but whenever it was near the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher’s favorite stand of trees it was silent and in all interactions between the two the Yell0w-bellied aggressively drove the silent Hammond’s away.
White Admiral Limenitis arthemis, Eureka Road, 4 July 2010.
By 8 AM the sun was out and this beautiful White Admiral was sunning itself in the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher habitat.
