Hi All,
I just want to add that the case of the unidentified Tyrannus in NY was
presented as a probable hybrid between Cough's and Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher by J. McGowan and K. J. McGowan at the IV NAOC meeting in
Veracruz, Mexico last October. The photographic evidence presented in the
poster was very convincing. The abstract for the poster can be viewed at
this link:
http://www.sgmeet.com/naoc/naoc2006/viewabstract2.asp?AbstractID=1873&SessionID=PS33

Frode Jacobsen
Baltimore, MD


 > Rick, et al.
>
> Rick Sussman asked if the NY Tyrannus flycatcher
> ID was ever resolved. The answer is ... well,
> yes, and no ... the NY Records Committee accepted
> it as a "Tyrannus flycatcher." The text from
> their decision report
> (http://www.nybirds.org/NYSARC/Reports/NYSARC2003.html) is pasted, below.
>
> FYI, as an aside ...  in Maryland, our MD/DCRC
> procedures would preclude us from accepting this
> bird as "Tyrannus, sp." since other members of
> the Tyrannus genus are not reviewable species in
> Maryland (i.e., Eastern and Western Kingbirds);
> however, the committee could, theoretically and
> if necessary, accept it as a species member of
> some defined group, such as the "Tropical/Couch's Kingbird complex."
>
> A good question!
>
> Hope this helps ...
>
> Phil
>
>
>   Tyrannus flycatcher
> 2003-60-A River Rd, Town of Leicester, Livingston, (Robert Spahn) 17-25
> Nov.
> Gary Chapin discovered this Tyrannus flycatcher
> hawking insects from the fence running along
> Chandler Road near Geneseo. The bird remained in
> the area until 2 Dec and was viewed and/or
> photographed by many people. Only one report was
> received and this is extremely unfortunate
> because the identification proved controversial
> and ultimately very interesting. In his initial
> internet posting, Chapin identified the bird as a
> Western Kingbird (T. verticalis), citing the
> yellow underparts and white outer feathers seen
> when the bird landed. A week later, Willie D’Anna
> saw and digiscoped the kingbird at this same
> locality but after studying his photos, D’Anna
> raised some questions about the identification.
> In particular, the relatively heavy bill,
> extensively yellow upper breast and green hints
> on the mantle pointed away from Western Kingbird.
> The arrangement of feathers in the tail was also
> unusual and initially interpreted as active molt.
> The vocalizations D’Anna heard corresponded to a
> very loud sharp single-syllabled call and in an
> internet posting, Matt Victoria stated that he
> heard the bird give a distinct “WICK!” call
> several times. This is consistent with Western or
> perhaps Couch’s Kingbird (T. couchii) but seemed
> to exclude Tropical Kingbird (T. melancholicus).
> The photos were posted on Angus Wilson’s web site
> (www.oceanwanderers.com) and discussed
> extensively on ID-Frontiers. Whilst many expert
> commentators felt the bird more closely resembled
> a Couch’s or Tropical rather than Western, others
> felt that these species were not quite right
> either. A short way into the debate, Bruce
> Anderson of Winter Park, Florida made the
> insightful observation that this might in fact be
> a hybrid between Western Kingbird and
> Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (T. forficatus), a
> known hybrid combination (Tyler and Parkes 1992,
> Regosin 1998). This idea gained favor, and Kevin
> McGowan and Bob Spahn, both of whom studied the
> bird in life, developed a robust argument in
> support of a somewhat different hybrid
> hypothesis. These authors concluded that the most
> likely parentage was in fact a hybrid between
> Couch’s Kingbird and Scissor-tailed
> Flycatcher—potentially the first example of this
> combination (McGowan and Spahn 2004). Their
> thoughtful and informative analysis of the
> plumage and structural details is highly
> recommended. The breeding range of the two
> species overlaps narrowly in southern Texas and
> northern Mexico and the two species are known to
> form mixed flocks at times. An important lesson
> from this fascinating bird is that identification
> of scarce or rare species needs to be made with
> great care. Not only is it important to use a
> suite of positive characters but also to heed aspects that don’t quite
> fit.
>
>
>>In a message dated 12/29/2006 8:24:44 PM Eastern
>>Standard Time, Phil Davis writes:
>>Here's a problematic tryannus from New York in 2003, probably NOT a
>>Tropical ...
>>
>>          http://www.oceanwanderers.com/NYTyrannus.html
>
> At 08:45 12/30/2006, Rick Sussman wrote:
> Phil and all,
>   Hopefully "our" bird won't cause this many
> problems. The discussions sent in to Angus after
> the photos were both enlightening and
> unenlightening! Be glad you weren't part of the
> NY records committee. Was this bird ID ever resolved?
>
>
> ===================================================
> Phil Davis, Secretary
> MD/DC Records Committee
> 2549 Vale Court
> Davidsonville, Maryland  21035     USA
> 301-261-0184
> mailto:[log in to unmask]
>
> MD/DCRC Web site:  http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
> ===================================================
>
>