Book Review - Field Guide to North American Flycatchers - Princeton University Press

 

     I doubt that you would find many North American birders who would not be in agreement that Empidonax flycatchers are one of the most difficult groups, if not the the most difficult group of birds to identify. So, I was excited to see a pocket-sized field guide devoted to this challenging family. Add in the pewees and it seems that you have it covered. 

     But I'm not totally convinced it works! The differences between species are often so slight and so difficult to observe that picking them apart in the field is well nigh impossible. I am thinking for example, of clues such as primary projection as explained and illustrated on pages 20 and 21. The variation is so subtle that I doubt that anyone but someone with intensive knowledge of the species would be successful in detecting these differences. Even then, in Ontario where I live, if one narrowed it down to medium primary projection, one would still be faced with the possibility that it could be Alder, Willow, Yellow-bellied or Least Flycatcher. To add to the potential confusion, Least Flycatcher is also possible under short primary projection and Yellow-bellied and Eastern Wood Pewee under long primary projection. Don't forget that one is seldom presented with an extended period of study when spotting these birds in life - quite different from an illustration on a page in a book.

     I understand that all clues should be used in conjunction with others, and perhaps if one is able to take a decent picture it might be possible to assemble them later. Traditional features such as vocalization (absolutely definitive), habitat and timing of migration are more reliable it seems to me.

     Having been involved with bird banding for several years, even with the bird in the hand, and with the benefit of biometrics and reference to Peter Pyle's bird bander's bible Identification to North American Birds, we often were unable to identify Willow or Alder Flycatcher as to species and had to resort to recording it as Traill's Flycatcher. Formerly, of course, they were considered the same species under that name.

     For the most part, I found the illustrations very pleasing, but there are several instances where the portrayal of the bird is unnaturally rotund and plump. In other cases, Olive-sided Flycatcher, for example I found them exceptionally well executed.

     Overall I liked the book. I think the text is well done and the pictures accurate and informative. Whether esoteric features such as primary tip spacing will ever be a valid guide to identifying the bird in the field I have my doubts. 

     Perhaps some species are just not reducible to a defined set of field marks that are useful in real life identification - and perhaps too that is the intrinsic challenge of birding, or at least one of them. As the book also confirms, sometimes you have to accept that you will be wrong in your ID, or simply unable to get beyond the family. Empidonax sp., or Contopus sp. are still perfectly acceptable entries on your eBird list or in your notebook.

     You will certainly not be alone!

Field Guide to North American Flycatchers

Empidonax and Pewees

Cin-Ty Lee and Andrew Birch

Paperback - US$19.95 - ISBN: 9780691240626

168 pages - 5 x 8 inches (12.5 x 20 cm) - 55 color and black-and-white illustrations - 19 maps - 53 spectograms

Publication date: 04 April, 2023