Pied Flycatcher in Iberia

Well I didn't get much response on my last post about a Pied Flycatcher so let me try another...

Pied Flycatcher, Ebro Delta, 20th May 2013

This one was in Spain, by the visitor centre in the Ebro Delta, in May 2013 (I've only just got round to sorting the photos out).  It wasn't in suitable breeding habitat so can be assumed to be a migrant.  As such I imagine (but don't know for certain) that the nominate hypoleuca is more likely than the Spanish iberiae.

One feature caught my attention: the pattern at the base of the primaries.  I was looking to check the size of the white patch at the base of the primaries.  In itself the white patch was not especially remarkable but what was more interesting (to me) was that around it, covering an area more comparable to the more extensive white patch of a Collared Flycatcher, was a diffuse pale patch - contrastingly browner than the smaller clear-cut white patch but also contrastingly paler than, though diffusely separated from, the dark brown colour of the more distal section of these feathers.

I don't remember seeing that before.  That doesn't mean it's unusual - just that I've not noticed it.  Maybe I haven't looked hard enough - quite possible.  I checked quite a few images, of my own and on the internet, and at first couldn't find others like it.  Eventually I did find some, including breeding females photographed in England and in Russia.  So probably not unusual and clearly not an indicator that it might be anything other than nominate hypoleuca.

In the meantime though I tried to research how to identify female iberiae, just in case it hadn't turned out to be ok for hypoleuca.  I found very little info on ID of female iberiae.  In fact the only reference I could find on separating female iberiae from nominate hypoleuca was BWP which states that in female iberiae the tertial margins are much broader than in female nominate hypoleuca, forming small white wing-patch.  Well the white tertial edges on this bird are pretty broad and they form a white patch, but are they too broad for hypoleuca?  I'm not convinced, though there are certainly lots of photos of spring female nominate Pied Flycatchers on the internet where the white fringes are narrower.  Here are some more views - what do you think?

Pied Flycatcher, Ebro Delta, 20th May 2013

Are there any other differences between the two forms to look out for?

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