Identifying flycatchers - not an easy process

Center: a flycatcher I photographed in Creston, BC this summer.
Surrounding:  other flycatchers I have photographed over the years.

Identifying birds can have its challenges.  There are a few bird families where the novice birder will have difficulties in coming up with a positive identification.  For me, gulls have always been a bane due to the fact that there are so many plumage variations for each species based upon age, season, and hybridization.  Lately though, the issue has been in identifying a particular flycatcher.

I photographed the center image this year in early summer in Creston, BC.  I searched my various bird books for an identification and felt comfortable calling it an Alder's flycatcher.  To verify, I posted the image on the Facebook group British Columbia Birds.  The response I got was a good illustration of the challenge in identifying this varied group.

My first response was from someone ((S.L.L) who didn't herself know, but thought someone may.  One member (M.C.) thought it may be an olive-sided flycatcher.  The most telling response though was from C.D. who wrote:

"You aren't going to be able to get a definitive ID without audio, Eric. Alder are very unusual in Creston, and you would need an associated vocal recording to be sure. You can use all the field marks you want, but for a firm ID, only song or calls can be used to be certain. Without that, this would go down as a willow, I suspect."

So, the bottom line is that it is most likely a willow flycatcher, but there is no guarantee of that.  Without more information, the truth is that it is an unknown flycatcher.  I know a few bird calls, but don't have an ear for such things and would never record such calls with the intent of using them for identification later.  I have met some who do that and kudos to them, but I love taking stills and stopping there.

This is not an isolated incident with flycatchers.  The website All About Birds has a good introduction to the subject that I found here.  It is worth a look. 

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