Empid conundrum....OHIO (15 May)

Empidonax flycatchers are some of the most challenging North American birds to identify. However, one of the easier of this confusing bunch is the Yellow-bellied Flycatcher courtesy of its rich yellow belly for one thing. It is an empid you do not have to hear call to get a positive ID, which makes it pretty appealing in my book! However, it is interesting that some photos of this fairly standard YBFL can appear less than clearcut, which illustrates clearly that photos can lie, and can be often misleading without the true colors displayed in real life, and the jizz of the bird that is almost never evident in a photo. It is for this reason I dread the mystery bird photo, as I have often so heavily relied on jizz to get to an ID, but which is rarely portrayed in a still single photo!

This bird was photographed at Magee Marsh yesterday during the final day of the Biggest Week of American Birding. Yesterday like today was dominated by high winds and wet conditions which drew the warblers down to low, low levels much to the joy of me yesterday and a number of birds I heard today too.