This bird has me stumped. It is a dead ringer for the Eastern Wood-Pewee with the following exceptions: no white eyering, definite yellow underbelly and a single-note call instead of the long Pewee call.
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/583/overview/Eastern_Wood-Pewee.aspx
I'll post three glaringly poor images of it in hopes you can help. I've been trying to get decent pics of it, but it won't let me get near enough and my camera is not the best.
Thanks.
Barb
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Hmmm... Cornell's says the EWP has "No eyering or only a faint one."
What about an Eastern Phoebe? Cornell says it "wags" it's tail
Edited to add this link with a picture - look at the pattern of gray on his breast and the yellow belly
http://www.houstonaudubon.org/index.cfm/act/newsletter.cfm/newsletterid/106/category/Bird%20Gallery/MenuGroup/Home.htm
This message was edited Oct 23, 2008 5:56 PM
Eastern Phoebe.
Note the combination of dark head & cheeks, and white throat. Also Eastern Phoebe is the only flycatcher that would be around this late in the year (even in Florida); Eastern Wood Pewee would be in the Caribbean or South America by now.
Resin
Thank you SO much, rntx and Resin. I must have skipped the Phoebes in the seemingly hundreds of pictures I searched through. I really appreciate your help.
Barb
I know what you mean about how frustrating it is when you are looking through your book and aren't even sure if you are in the right section. Here's a trick I just discovered, especially handy for just these times.
I go to Whatbird.com and look up the bird you think it might be. When you get to the birds profile, it tells you its song, range map, and a list of "similar" birds - which is the part I love. The only downside is they use drawings of the birds instead of real pictures. This is where Cornell comes in to verify.
Another good site is the USGS site (also known as the Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter) http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html
They have a quick-finder where you click on the group name and it takes you to all the birds in that group; and they also feature a "similar birds" list AND go as far as telling you what the differences are. Very nice!
Or you could just get Resin's phone number on your speed dial, LOL :)
LOL! I'm sure Resin would appreciate that!!! Thanks again for the above info. Trying to ID birds is a new hobby for me and where before they all appeared so different, they now, amazingly enough, have a bunch of similar characteristics (usually when frustration sets in).
As a side note, I went to the Whatbird.com website and played some of the bird calls... drove the cats crazy trying to find that elusive bird in the computer room! :)
Regards,
Barb
