Brown-crested Flycatcher - new for REGUA: 18 September

A walk around the Wetland Trail produced a few decent birds despite the unseasonally hot and dry weather conditions. The undoubted highlight was this Brown-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus tyrannulus, a first for REGUA, picked up on call by sharp-eared REGUA guide Leonardo. This large chunky flycatcher performed brilliantly and allowed some good pics to be taken. Call is key to identifying Myiarchus flycatchers, but the pale brown crown, rufous fringes to the primaries and tail feathers, bright lemon belly and vent and pinkish base to the bill, make this a relatively easy species to identify.

Brown-crested Flycatcher is widely distributed across much of eastern South America with an isolated population in the Peruvian Andes, as well as parts of Central America and into the south-western US. They are migratory at both the northern and southern ends of the their range, but despite distribution maps showing them to be resident in south-east Brazil, they are much more common in the drier interior of Brazil and are very rare on the coastal slope of the Atlantic Forest, where the morphologically similar and resident Short-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus ferox is the dominant Myiarchus (compare here).

The REGUA Brown-crested Fly is probably on route from the Amazon basin, where the southern birds winter. I love tyrant-flycatchers and could have happily watched it for hours. This bird comes hot on the heels of a Black-collared Hawk Busarellus nigricollis, another species that is more abundant in drier environments, seen over the wetland at the beginning of the month. Maybe the current dry conditions in Rio state have something to do with both of these vagrants turning up?

Brown-crested Flycatcher Myiarchus tyrannulus, REGUA wetland,
18 September 2012. Note the rufous in the tail.

Note the pinkish base to the lower mandible - diagnostic amongst
Myiarchus flycatchers of the region

The bird frequently opened its bill to cool down.

It ended up being a tyrant-flycatcher day with 1 very flighty Hangnest Tody-Tyrant (a rare bird at REGUA and only my second here), 1 Yellow-bellied Elaenia, 1 Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet, 5 Yellow Tyrannulet, 1 Bran-coloured Flycatcher, and a male Green-backed Becard seen. Throughout the morning we also had nice views of a very showy adult Rufescent Tiger-Heron, 2 Striated Heron, 1 Snowy Egret (surprisingly scarce here at the moment), 2-3 White-barred Piculet, 1f Chestnut-backed Antshrike, 1 Wing-banded Hornero, 1f Yellow-backed Tanager and a Chestnut-vented Conebill.

Hangnest Tody-Tyrant Hemitriccus nidipendulus, another species that prefers
drier, less humid environments.

Yellow Tyrannulet Capsiempis flaveolus

Rufescent Tiger-Heron Tigrisoma lineatum

Also seen were lots of Capybara, 3 Broad-snouted Caiman and a brilliant Brazilian Owl Caligo brasiliensis. By late morning the temperature was getting ridiculously hot and so it was back to the lodge for a swim and an ice cold coke.

Brazilian Owl Caligo brasiliensis

Out of range Cinereous Ground-tyrant

It's always nice to find a surprise while sorting through old photos. I've been looking through hundreds of photos from a year travelling around South America in 2006, and came across a whole bunch of images of ground-tyrants (terrestrial tyrant-flycatchers - think of flycatchers that look and behave like wheatears) taken during a memorable day watching Andean Condors up at 1950 metres in the Argentine Andes, at the ski resort of Cerro Catedral in Nahuel Huapi National Park. The most common species here was White-browed Ground-Tyrant Muscisaxicola albilora followed by Ochre-naped Ground-Tyrant Muscisaxicola flavinucha, but I also found several images taken of a very different looking bird that I couldn't put a name to at the time and intended to identify at a later date. Well, better late than never!

The most striking thing about this bird is how plain it looks, being uniform grey above with brownish black wings and tail and plain whitish grey below. The lack of either a rufous or ochre crown patch (found in the other species found in this area), very faint pale grey supercilium, plain grey forehead and fine bill suggest Cinereous Ground-tyrant Muscisaxicola cinereus, but Cerro Catedral is well outside the range of this species. Juvenile Ochre-naped Ground-Tyrant usually have no ochre occipital patch and would therefore look similar, but this species can be ruled out by its larger size, white forehead, lores and supercilium, and much longer primaries that almost reach the tip of the tail. This bird was also sticking to the rocky boulders near the top of the ridge rather than grassy areas slightly lower down preferred by the other species.

Cinereous Ground-tyrant Muscisaxicola cinereus, Cerro Catedral, Nahuel Huapi
National Park, Argentina, November 2006. This bird was about 470 km south of
the most southerly limit of it's range. Is this simply an overshooting spring
migrant or are they extending their range southwards?

White-browed Ground-tyrant Muscisaxicola albilora, Cerro Catedral, Nahuel
Huapi National Park, Argentina, November 2006. The most common species here.
Note the diffuse rufous crown, which is brown in juveniles, the bold white
supercilium and the longer heavier looking bill.

Ochre-naped Ground-Tyrant Muscisaxicola flavinucha, Cerro Catedral, Nahuel
Huapi National Park, Argentina, November 2006. The ochre occipital patch is often
absent in juveniles. Note the heavy build, white forehead, lores and supercilum,
and the length of the primaries.

There are 13 species of ground-tyrant, all restricted to the Andes and Tierra del Fuego (mostly at high altitudes) and some are highly migratory. Four species breed in this part of the Andes, but Cinereous Ground-tyrant breeds from southern Peru to central Argentina, as far as 37° S, and so this bird was roughly 470 km south of it's known range. They are migratory at the southern end of their range and so this is probably an overshooting spring migrant. However, Ridgely and Tudor (1994) show this species' range lying another 500 km further north than more recent texts, so either the distribution of this species is now better known, or they are spreading southwards as the Andes becomes warmer. Perhaps this record represents a range extension? It's such a shame I didn't look for any other birds at the time.

Black-backed Water-Tyrant - a new bird for REGUA

On Saturday 12 November 2011, I found a Black-backed Water-Tyrant Fluvicola albiventer at REGUA, a private nature reserve located in the Serra do Mar mountains, in the municipality of Cachoeiras de Macacu, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. A vagrant to RJ state, this is the first record of this species at REGUA.

The bird was seen twice throughout the day, briefly in the morning and then again later in the afternoon. Initially picked up in flight, it landed in a bare dead bush at the water's edge on a small grassy island by post 300 of the Wetland Trail. With previous experience of this species in the Pantanal I knew immediately what it was. Although the bird was distant and remained fairly deep in cover, I managed to take a few record shots that show the key features: black upperparts including the nape and rear crown and black tail, white tips to the greater and medium coverts forming two faint broken white wing bars, a thin white band across the rump, white forehead and forecrown, face and underparts and black eye, bill and legs. After a few minutes it flew off and despite searching for an hour or so I couldn't relocate it.

Late afternoon, while on my way back from mapping a new trail, I refound the bird around the replanted tabebuia trees, just a short distance from the first sighting, and this time I was able to watch it for about 30 minutes. It was quite active, spending most of the time foraging from vegetation overhanging the surface of the water by just a foot or so, and sallying out over the water presumably to catch insects and frequently fanning the tail slightly and flicking it downwards. Unfortunately, it remained distant and tended to perch a little way into the vegetation, which prevented me from getting any good photos.

Black-backed Water-Tyrant, REGUA wetland, 12 November 2011. The tail, wing coverts, secondaries and tertials
are all rather worn - note the lack of any white tips to the tail, very faint white the wing bars and almost absent
white fringes to the tertials (just visible in the photo top right).

There are only two potential confusion species. Pied Water-Tyrant Fluvicola pica (its closest relative and sometimes considered conspecific), is found in northern South America is similar but shows white scapulars, no white wing bars, a completely white rump and white mottling on the mantle. In RJ state, female or immature White-headed Marsh-Tyrant Arundinicola leucocephala are superficially similar at first glance, but are easily separated by their slightly smaller size, more upright stance, much less contrasting demarcation between the grey/black upperparts (with no white on the wing coverts, tertials or secondaries) and greyish white underparts, as well as a largely orange-yellow lower mandible. They also rarely fan their tail.

Black-backed Water-Tyrant, Pantanal, Brazil, August 2006. Note the obvious white
wing bars, white fringes to the tertials and secondaries and tips to the tail.

Female White-headed Marsh-Tyrant, REGUA, November 2011. With poor or brief
views this is the only potential confusion species in RJ state, but note the greyish
mottling on the white underparts, the diffuse border between the underparts and
the pale grey on the crown, nape, mantle and edges to the scapulars and
orange-yellow on the lower mandible.

Black-backed Water-Tyrant is distributed throughout eastern South America, mainly in central and eastern Brazil south to northern Minas Gerias and north-west São Paulo states, as well as locally into eastern Bolivia, Paraquay, north-east Argentina and south-west Uruguay (click here for a map). It is resident throughout much of its range, but in the austral winter some migrate westwards into western Amazonia (western Brazil, north-west Bolivia, extreme southern Columbia, eastern Ecuador and eastern Peru). The nearest populations to REGUA are found approximately 600 km away, either to the north in northern Minas Gerais or to the west in central São Paulo state.

So is this a late overshooting spring migrant from Amazonia? Ricardo Gagliardi maintains the official RJ state bird list and he informs me that Black-backed Water-Tyrant is in fact spreading south into RJ state (a paper is currently in preparation) and there have been several recent sightings in the north of the state. However, he is surprised the species has already reached as far south as REGUA and writes that this record "indicates a continuity in the process of colonization of new areas for the species". The bird was still present the next day but hasn't been seen since.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Ricardo Gagliardi for kindly providing information regarding the status of the species in RJ state, and to Eric DeFonso for taking the time to find the bird the following day.

Austral migrant tyrant-flycatchers

During the austral spring (September and October), large numbers of migratory birds arrive in the Atlantic Forest and across southern South America to breed. Avian migration in South America is very poorly understood compared to many other parts of the world, with seasonal distribution and migration routes unclear for many species. However, some species, particularly some tyrant-flycatchers, are known to migrate very long distances, and a few are potential vagrants to North America and perhaps beyond.

Several Fork-tailed Flycatchers (photo 1) are currently about on agricultural land around REGUA. There are four races of this stunning bird, and the nominate Tyrannus savana savana is a long distance migrant, breeding in southern South America, mainly south of the Tropic of Capricorn², and spending the austral winter (April to August) in the northern half of the continent, as far north as western Columbia, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago. Fork-tailed Flycatcher occurs almost annually as a vagrant in the US and Canada with over 120 records, mainly in the east and involving 1st winter birds of the nominate race³. Most have occurred as reverse migrants in September and October, when birds wintering in northern South America move south to their breeding grounds, but some have occurred as overshoots in the northern spring when birds are heading north for the austral winter. Incredibly, one even made it to Spain in October 2002³!

Fork-tailed Flycatcher of the nominate form T. s. savana, REGUA, November 2011.
This long distance migrant is recorded almost annually as a vagrant in North
America, and the first record for the Western Palearctic occurred in 2002.

Variegated Flycatcher (photo 2) is also a common summer visitor to the Atlantic Forest and can be seen around the wetland and at forest edge habitats at REGUA at the moment. Widespread throughout South America east of the Andes, nominate Empidonomus varius varius is highly migratory in the southern part of its breeding range, with birds moving as far north as Trinidad, Venezuela and as far west as eastern Colombia and eastern Ecuador for the austral winter. Variegated Flycatcher shows a similar pattern of vagrancy in North America to Fork-tailed Flycatcher, albeit but with far fewer records (Fork-tailed Flycatcher is a very conspicuous species, so maybe Variegated Flycatchers are going unnoticed?) - 3 have been recorded in the US (2 in the east) and 1 in south-east Canada, with all but one recorded between September and November. None have been assigned to race for certain, but a bird in Washington in 2008 showed characteristics of the nominate varius⁴, suggesting migrants from southern South America are involved rather than the nearer but sedentary Mexican population. With Fork-tailed Flycatcher having made it across the Atlantic, could Variegated Flycatcher follow?

Variegated Flycatcher of the highly migratory nominate race E. v. varius, REGUA,
October 2007. Birds breeding in southern South America winter in the far north of
the continent. 4 have so far occurred in North America, including 3 in the east, but
more possibly go unnoticed. The larger size, longer bill and rufous tail separate it
from the similar Piratic Flycatcher.

Piratic Flycatcher is similar to Variegated in appearance, but is smaller with a shorter bill and less rufous tones in the tail and rump. Like Variegated, the nominate L. l. leucophaius is migratory and moves north for the austral winter. Nine had been recorded in North America up until 2009⁴, with one record from eastern US (Florida). Similarly, the local race of Streaked Flycatcher, M. m. solitarius (photo 3), is also highly migratory in the southern end of its range. So far Streaked Flycatcher has not been recorded north of Mexico⁴, but this is one of the most common austral summer migrant tyrant-flycatchers in RJ state, and must be considered a potential vagrant to North America.

Streaked Flycatcher of the migratory race M. m. solitarius, Vale das Taquaras,
November 2007. This common long distance austral migrant is a potential vagrant
to North America and maybe elsewhere.

References

¹ del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A. & Christie, D. (eds.) 2004. Handbook of the Birds of the World, 9. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions.
² Erickson, H.T. 1982. Migration of the Fork-tailed Flycatcher through southeastern Brazil. American Birds 36: 136-138.
³ Gutiérrez, R. 2008. The Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Spain - a new Western Palearctic bird. Birding World 21: 325-328.
⁴ Mlodinow, S.G. & Irons, D.S. 2009. First Record of the Variegated Flycatcher for Western North America. Western Birds 40: 47-50.