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This record concerns a Field sighting
Species name Pied Water Tyrant
No. of birds: 6+
Sex/Age : probable adult, suspected males but not certain
Place: Rio Ucayali north of Contamana, and Yarinacocha
Province Ucayali
GPS Coordinates
Altitude
Habitat_ Short, flooded riverine scrub
Date and time first seen: 3 December 2009, 11:00 AM
Date and time last seen : 7 December 2009, 09:00 AM
Observation circumstances
Distance from bird: as close as 10m, mostly 20-30m
Observation duration (min/hrs) total of about 15 minutes with all the birds
Optics used: Swarovski 10x42 EL
Weather (sun, rain, mist, etc.): partly cloudy sky, no wind
Light conditions: sun was almost directly overhead for the first observation, lower in the sky for the second
Bird observed in under-story
Did you discover the bird? Yes
Did you identify the bird? Yes
Identification was done in the field? Yes
Did you have previous experience with the species? Yes
Do you have experience with confusing species? Yes
Are confusing species excluded? Yes
Documentation
Is the bird/are the birds: Photographed? Yes No
Sound recorded? No
Videoed? No
Is the photo/sound recording/video published on internet? Yes
If so, please indicate the web address http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/4399464223/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/4399464287/in/photostream/
If possible, include your documentation photo/sound/video files in the e-mail of submission. Sound recordings can also be sent for publication to www.xeno-canto.org and photos can be sent to vireo.acnatsci.org or www.avesecuador.com.
Observer and/or reporter
Name Andrew Spencer
Address 3649 E. Phillips Ave, Centennial, CO USA
Country of residence Ecuador
E-mail [email protected]
Telephone 1-303-408-2401
Other observers Christian Nunes, Ian Davies
Date of submission 22 February 2014
Description
Please fill in a detailed description of the bird(s). Original field description preferred (i.e. without help of literature). Include features such as size, structure, posture, colours, patterns, behaviour, call and song. Describe characters such as head, bare parts, upperparts, underparts, wing and tail (attach extra page if needed).
Description: The bird was immediately identifiable as a water-tyrant by its small size (~about House Sparrow sized or a little smaller), flycatcher shape with short and thin bill, relatively long wings, upright posture, and bold black and white plumage, combined with its habit of staying low in dense riverside growth. The entirety of the underparts were white, but the nape was black, which continued down onto a broad black stripe down the back. This black stripe on the back was surrounded by two bold white braces. The wings and tail were black, with large white edges to the tertials, a white rump and a thin white band to the tail. All bare part colors were black.
We initially thought it was a Black-backed Water-Tyrant since that was all that was in our field guides, but soon re-identified it as a Pied. Black-backed Water-Tyrant was ruled out by the bold white “braces” on the back, almost completely obscuring any black on at least one of the birds we saw, as opposed to a completely black back. Masked Water-Tyrant (which would be exceedingly unlikely at these locations I believe) was ruled out by the black nape, lack of a black eye-stripe, different wing pattern, smaller size, and different shape and behaviour. All other small black and white birds (i.e., various seedeater species) were ruled out by the thin and short bill (typical of most small flycatchers), and unique shape with relatively short tail for the body size.
Species name Pied Water Tyrant
No. of birds: 6+
Sex/Age : probable adult, suspected males but not certain
Place: Rio Ucayali north of Contamana, and Yarinacocha
Province Ucayali
GPS Coordinates
Altitude
Habitat_ Short, flooded riverine scrub
Date and time first seen: 3 December 2009, 11:00 AM
Date and time last seen : 7 December 2009, 09:00 AM
Observation circumstances
Distance from bird: as close as 10m, mostly 20-30m
Observation duration (min/hrs) total of about 15 minutes with all the birds
Optics used: Swarovski 10x42 EL
Weather (sun, rain, mist, etc.): partly cloudy sky, no wind
Light conditions: sun was almost directly overhead for the first observation, lower in the sky for the second
Bird observed in under-story
Did you discover the bird? Yes
Did you identify the bird? Yes
Identification was done in the field? Yes
Did you have previous experience with the species? Yes
Do you have experience with confusing species? Yes
Are confusing species excluded? Yes
Documentation
Is the bird/are the birds: Photographed? Yes No
Sound recorded? No
Videoed? No
Is the photo/sound recording/video published on internet? Yes
If so, please indicate the web address http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/4399464223/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/4399464287/in/photostream/
If possible, include your documentation photo/sound/video files in the e-mail of submission. Sound recordings can also be sent for publication to www.xeno-canto.org and photos can be sent to vireo.acnatsci.org or www.avesecuador.com.
Observer and/or reporter
Name Andrew Spencer
Address 3649 E. Phillips Ave, Centennial, CO USA
Country of residence Ecuador
E-mail [email protected]
Telephone 1-303-408-2401
Other observers Christian Nunes, Ian Davies
Date of submission 22 February 2014
Description
Please fill in a detailed description of the bird(s). Original field description preferred (i.e. without help of literature). Include features such as size, structure, posture, colours, patterns, behaviour, call and song. Describe characters such as head, bare parts, upperparts, underparts, wing and tail (attach extra page if needed).
Description: The bird was immediately identifiable as a water-tyrant by its small size (~about House Sparrow sized or a little smaller), flycatcher shape with short and thin bill, relatively long wings, upright posture, and bold black and white plumage, combined with its habit of staying low in dense riverside growth. The entirety of the underparts were white, but the nape was black, which continued down onto a broad black stripe down the back. This black stripe on the back was surrounded by two bold white braces. The wings and tail were black, with large white edges to the tertials, a white rump and a thin white band to the tail. All bare part colors were black.
We initially thought it was a Black-backed Water-Tyrant since that was all that was in our field guides, but soon re-identified it as a Pied. Black-backed Water-Tyrant was ruled out by the bold white “braces” on the back, almost completely obscuring any black on at least one of the birds we saw, as opposed to a completely black back. Masked Water-Tyrant (which would be exceedingly unlikely at these locations I believe) was ruled out by the black nape, lack of a black eye-stripe, different wing pattern, smaller size, and different shape and behaviour. All other small black and white birds (i.e., various seedeater species) were ruled out by the thin and short bill (typical of most small flycatchers), and unique shape with relatively short tail for the body size.
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