Just a Pied Fly?

No, I'm not talking about the Yorkshire "Atlas Flycatcher" whose DNA surprised everyone, this is about a female flycatcher I saw in Sicily recently.

First impressions were a grey bird with a prominent pale collar and an obvious pale rump.  I knew Pied Flycatcher could show a pale rump but I'd never seen it so obvious on a Pied, and I don't recall seeing Pied with such a pale collar before either.  This bird had a white patch at the base of the primaries, bigger than on many Pied Flycatchers, and my suspicions turned to Collared Flycatcher.  I couldn't recall the finer details of what to look for in tail and tertial pattern so took some photos and hoped I'd be proved right when I got home.  I had a nagging doubt - I'd seen Pied Flycatcher with this much white on the primary bases and ideally I'd hoped to see more on a Collared.

Well I'm back home now and I think my doubts were well-founded. Here's why I now think it was a Pied Flycatcher, not my first female Collared...

• White at the base of the primaries not extensive enough - not reaching beyond the primary coverts
• White on the outer tail feather broadest at the base (where it extends on to the inner web) and fizzling out at the tip - should be the other way round on Collared apparently
• Although it gave the impression of having quite cold grey upperparts I think that impression was influenced by the grey nape and rump - the mantle and scapulars look quite warm brown in the photos
• I don't think the upper tail-coverts don't look dark enough for Collared
• Tertial fringes possibly not narrow enough for Collared?

 

Pied Flycatcher, Riserva Naturale Orientate Biviere di Gela, 28th April 2012

Now some questions:

1. Are the contrastingly warm gingery ear-coverts significant for its identification?
2. How normal is it for Pied Flycatcher to show such an obvious pale greyish collar and pale rump?
3. Do you agree it's just a Pied Flycatcher?
4. What do female Pied x Collared hybrids look like?

And now just for fun, here are a couple of straightforward vagrant male Collared Flycatchers from my archives:

Collared Flycatcher, Holme, 8th May 2011

Collared Flycatcher, Southwell, 2nd May 2009