The quarterly journal of Oregon field ornithology _ Volume 22, Number 3, Fall 1996 1 First Oregon Record of Dusky-capped Flycatcher 71 Pat Dickey A Verified Breeding Record for Wilson's Phalarope at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, Polk County, Oregon 74 ". ':»8x Stephen Don Ian The Northern Mockingbird becomes established <*m WPBNflS**}^ . in the Rogue Valley 75 * ~\ Nfhis Oregon Birders On Line 76 "3;| Bill Tice Building a basic library on Oregon birds 78 Alan Contreras Starling Stroganoff 82 Colin Dillingham Thanksgiving Bird Count 84 .v-v 4j«iri**^^^fei,. John G. Hewston NEWS AND NOTES OB 22(3) 85 i * »• iStiit ' fi From other journals 85 'A-v• DavidB. Marshall Mf FIELDNOTES 88 HI II Eastern Oregon, Winter 1995-96 89 Tom Crabtree ••• I • Western Oregon, Winter 1995-96 91 ;.. •;*''' . S Jim Johnson COVER PHOTO Sift • •• .. -*m Dusky-capped Flycatcher, 6 January 1996, Newport, "A Lincoln Co. Photo/Tim Janzen. •; J a.. ill CENTER LjlSL.m.s,' • 1996 Fall Birding Weekend at Malheur • 1996 // . v.- Shorebird Festival » OFO membership form * OFO Bookcase • Oregon i?«reBfftffl&oneNetwork • Checklist of Oregon Birds Oregon Birds is looking for Oregon Birds material in these categories: News Briefs on things of temporal The quarterly journal of Oregon field ornithology importance, such as meetings, birding trips, announcements, news items, etc. Articles are longer contributions dealing OREGON BIRDS is a quarterly publication of Oregon Field with identification, distribution, ecology, Ornithologists, an Oregon not-for-profit corporation. Membership in management, conservation, taxonomy, Oregon Field Ornithologists includes a subscription to Oregon Birds. behavior, biology, and historical aspects of ISSN 0890-2313 ornithology and birding in Oregon. Articles cite references (if any) at the end of the text. Editor Owen Schmidt Names and addresses of authors typically Assistant Editor Sharon K. Blair appear at the beginning of the text. Associate Editor Jim Johnson Short Notes are shorter communications dealing with the same subjects as articles. OREGON FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS Short Notes typically cite no references, or at most a few in parentheses in the text. Names President Mike Patterson, Astoria (1996-97) and addresses of authors appear at the end of Secretary Cindy Lawes, Beaverton (1996-97) the text. Treasurer Barbara Combs, Eugene (1996-97) Past President George A. Jobanek, Eugene Bird Finding Guides "where to find a Directors Ted Ernst, Corvallis (1995-97) in Oregon" (for some of the rarer Ray Korpi, Portland (1996-98) birds) and "where to find birds in the Paul T. Sullivan, Beaverton (1996-98) area" (forsome of the betterspots). Sandy Bryce, Corvallis (1995-97) Reviews for published material on Oregon birds or of interest to Oregon birders. OREGON BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE Photographs of birds, especially photos Secretary Harry Nehls, Portland (1994) taken recently in Oregon. Color slide duplicates are preferred. Please label all Members Tom Crabtree, Bend (1995-97) photos with photographer's name and Colin Dillingham, Brookings (1995-97) address, bird identification, date and place the Jeff Gilligan, Portland (1996-98) photo was taken. Photos will be returned; Jim Johnson, Vancouver, WA (1996-98) contact the Editor for more information. Nick Lethaby, Santa Clara, CA (1994-96) Larry McQueen, Eugene (1994-96) Deadline for the next issue of Oregon Birds — Craig Roberts, Tillamook (1996-98) OB 22(4), Winter 1996 — is 20 October 1996. Skip Russell, Beaverton (1995-97 The next issue should get to you by the fi rst week Owen Schmidt, Portland (1994-96) of December 1996. Material can be submitted any time, and the sooner the better. Please send Alternates Alan Contreras, Salem (1996) materials directly to the Editor, 3007 N.E. 32nd Craig Corder, Hermiston (1996) Avenue. Portland, OR 97212, 503-282-9403. Richard Hoyer, Corvallis (1996) Kamal Islam, Corvallis (1996) Oregon Birds Board of Editors: Gerard Lillie, Portland (1996) David A. Anderson, Range D. Bayer, Charlie Ron Maertz, Glide (1996) Bnice. Tom Crabtree, Stephen Dowlan, Jeff Gilligan, Steven G. Herman, Mike Houck, George A. Jobanek, Jim Johnson, CD. Littlefield, Roy Lowe, David B. Marshall, Harry Oregon Birds B. Nehls, Mark Stern, Paul Sullivan, Clarice Watson. OREGON BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE ©1996 OREGON FIELD ORNITHOLOGISTS P.O. Box 10373 Eugene, OR 97440 Printed on Recycled Paper. Oregon Birds 22(3): 70 First Oregon Record of Dusky-capped Flycatcher Pat Dickey, 257 N.E. 10th, Toledo, OR 97391 Serendipity: the gift of finding valu• So I did what I always do when I in that book. able or agreeable things not looked have an identity crisis. I called Range Turning to the Encyclopedia of for. On 2 January 1996, my serendip• Bayer. I told him my tale of observa• North American Birds, I read the gen• ity was a small bird I noticed while tion and confusion. He said that the eral information about the Tyrant Fly• walking to visit friends. Without bin• Ash-throated Flycatcher was the most catcher family (p. 381), then moved oculars, I observed a sparrow-sized likely answer; he would call out the to the Ash-throated Flycatcher (p. bird with a dark-brownish head, yel• troops and try to find the bird again. 382).The sound of the rufous-tailed low belly, rufous tail and wings, and a After talking with Range I fetched Myiarchus cinerascens was like noth• sharp black bill. The Audubon Society Field Guide to ing I had heard: "huit, huit, quir-r-r, As I watched for 10 minutes,it hov• North American Birds, The Audubon quirp, hip, hip, hawker." Furthermore, ered, kinglet-like, near leaves, then Society Encyclopedia of North Terres says that this flycatcher "for• perched on tree limbs or the tele• American Birds and my daughter's ages over low shrubbery and flies out phone wire and made a sad, lonesome copy of The Golden Guide to Field into the air after insects; after aerial sound that began high and coasted Identification of North American sally seldom returns to the same down in pitch. Vaguely recalling that Birds. perch." This description of feeding kingbirds have yellow bellies and are From the Audubon Field Guide I behavior did not match what I had seen occasionally in Newport in the learned that the Ash-throated Fly• observed. winter, I happily called this fellow a catcher (p. 615) does indeed have I skimmed the entries for Brown- kingbird (my first) and went on my cinnamon-rust primaries and tail crested (Wied's Crested, p. 388) and way. feathers. However, the sound of this Great Crested (p. 385) Flycatchers. My When I arrived home, I turned to bird as described — "rolling queeerr" size judgment is not very accurate but the kingbirds in my Peterson's Field and "pip or pwit" — did not come I was pretty sure the bird I had seen Guide to Western Birds (p. 233), only close to the sad sound I had heard. was smaller than either species. And to find yellow-bellied birds with dark Moving to the Olivaceous Flycatcher the call I had heard was nothing like gray backs and heads. Not a brown (Myiarchus tuberculifer) (p. 631), I those attributed to Brown- or Great or rufous feather in sight. Idly flipping read that this small crested flycatcher Crested Flycatchers. I was beginning to the next page (p. 235), I found 4 has "much brown, but little rufous in to believe that, rufous tail and wings candidate flycatchers all with yellow the taif'The description of its voice notwithstanding, the bird I had seen bellies and brownish backs and heads, as a "long, mournful whistle in a mi• was a Dusky-capped, or Olivaceous and varying amounts of rufous. But nor key, rising, then falling in pitch" Flycatcher. which one of this quartet had I seen? so exactly matched the sound I re• Reading about Myiarchus The Great-crested Flycatcher membered that I searched no further tuberculifer further convinced me (p. (Myiarchus crinitus) most re• 386). Size seemed right, 6-1/2 to 7 sembled what I had seen, but his Dusky-capped Flycatcher, 6January 1996, Newport,inches ; yellow belly;"shows little ru• Lincoln Co. Photo/Tim Janzen. throat was too gray, and his sound, fous in the tail." Oops. But — "bushy "whit or purreer" was wrong. The headed; slender; sits erect" — all this Brown-crested Flycatcher IIBI was correct. "Utters distinctive (Myiarchus tyrannulus) had the ru• mournful downwardslurred whistle." fous tail and wing but was too large Bingo! Under "Feeding Habits" was and too noisy — "loud whistled this description: "While hovering, wheep!, rolling prrreeet!"A Dusky- spends much time picking insects capped Flycatcher (Myiarchus from leaves." I had observed this be• tuberculifer) made the right sound, havior. "a mournful, drawling whistle, slur• Finally, I turned to the Golden ring down," but as pictured and de• Guide's Myiarchus flycatcher page scribed, had very little rufous in tail (p. 208) with the Fab Four on it: Great or wing. The "only flycatcher in the Crested, Brown-crested,Ash-throated west with a rusty tail," Ash-throated and Dusky-capped. Here I found ad• Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) ditional confirmation for my conclu• was too pale of belly and also made sion. The Dusky-capped Flycatcher, the wrong sound. We all know how "unlike the other birds on this page, misleading pictures in field guides it often picks insects from foliage can be; in this case the maps only while hovering." Regarding rufous made things worse. None of these wings and tail I found a possible ex• birds are"supposed"to be in western planation: "Adult shows little if any Oregon in the winter! rusty color in the tail." Could this Oregon Birds 22(3): 71 mean that a juvenile might have the rufous tail? A chance encounter the next day at the video store with Chuck Philo, a local birder, brought new informa• tion.