Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher

Sulfur-bellied Flycatcher
Madera Canyon, Arizona, USA
July 2019
Member of the Tyrant/Flycatcher Family
§A Zapper of Flycatchers§

~True Bird Fact~ Most easily identified by their call, which sounds basically exactly like a dog's squeaky toy or a child's bath toy. A lot of time people compare bird calls to other things, but this time folks, it's real.

~Additional mildly interesting Bird Fact~ Sulfur-bellied Flycatchers are super rare in the United States, living only in a biome known as the Madrean Sky Islands. These are small mountain ranges in the desert clustered around the New Mexico, Arizona, Chihuahua border. On name alone they are just just the coolest, but they also are the home to the United States' only jaguar species. Did you know we have a jaguar?

Tougher than they look, will start a fight with you
Makes 'zoom zoom' sounds as they fly around
Always drinks out of a straw. Don't worry, it's a reusable one

Western Kingbird

Western Kingbird aka. Arkansas Kingbird (archaic)
Mt Burdell Preserve, Novato, California, USA
May 2018
Member of the Tyrant/Flycatcher Family
§A Tyranny of Kingbirds§

{Etymology Corner} Certainly someone was very impressed with these birds to grant them such a regal name, right? Well... maybe they were an anti-monarchist, because kingbirds are named as such because of their aggressive and "take-charge" behavior (quoth wikipedia). I guess the name dickbird was already taken, so this makes sense.

~true bird fact~ Ironic for a country founded on defying a king, we in America have done nothing but contribute to the Kingbird's reign. By cutting forests and creating pastures and farms, we have created ideal habitat for this plains-hunting specialist. Not only that, but utility wires make for ideal Kingbird perches.


A real jokester, does a lot of silly voices
Doesn't agree with the concept of privilege, despite having it in abundance
Has a great sense of physicality. Comfortable in his body

Vermilion Flycatcher

Vermilion Flycatcher aka. Common Vermilion Flycatcher aka. Darwin's Flycatcher aka. Galapagos Flycatcher

Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA
July 2017
Member of the Tyrant/Flycatcher Family
§An Outfield of Flycatchers§ (I show you this stupid name, dear readers, only to illustrate the injustice that somehow this is a thing, but not my wonderful suggestion for a group of chats. The mind boggles)


~true bird fact~ As debonair in personality as he is in appearance, the male Vermilion Flycatcher woos females with a colorful bouquet (usually a butterfly or other interesting looking insect).





Born with a silver spoon in his mouth and a trust fund to beat the bank
Lives a globetrotting life of excitement
Since he's done it all already, it's hard for him to get excited for much anymore
He's not really a bad guy intrinsically, but he has trouble connecting with people in a sincere way

*record scratch*

*fancy classical music starts playing*

First Described by...

Pieter Boddaert

1730 - 1795

This guy over here. He was a Dutch doctor and naturalist, and his main claim to fame seems to have been that he knew a lot of other better known naturalists and thinkers. I want to rag on the guy, but honestly, being a very good friend to a lot of famous people is a good historical niche to find yourself in. He corresponded extensively with our pal Linnaeus, for example. When he published a series of illustration plates from the blockbuster french encyclopedia Histoire Naturelle he added his own scientific names to the animals, thus christening them. What a sneaky way to get into the history books, good on you Boddaert. He stayed in the animal encyclopedia game, publishing Elenchus Animalium (A Directory of Animals) where he named even more stuff.

Et Tu Birdte? The Birds of March

Julius Caesar. Jesus Christ. Han Solo. All the subjects of famous betrayals. You know who else has been betrayed? These birds! Behold their tales of woe, dear reader, and take heed.

Northern Mockingbird's right hand man coveted his leadership position at Chemco, thinking he was the better bird for the job. He shoved Northern Mockingbird into a big open vat of chemicals at their evil chemical factory, which you think wouldn't work great because birds can fly. However, Northern Mockingbird was holding two doughnuts (one in each wing), and therefor was unable to get those wings moving in time. He was left for dead, but actually the chemicals gave him super powers, so he'll probably get revenge at some point.

Black Phoebe was not at fault for his downfall. He was pushed into a position of fame and prominence early in his life by his parents, who both had dreams of success that they hadn't achieved. After some early successful turns in commercials and TV shows, he got a major role in a movie that became a true genre classic. Black Phoebe missed a lot of school and normal social engagements to do this. He got exposed to some pretty messed up stuff early too, making it hard for him to transition into normal adulthood. His parents ended up embezzling all of the money he earned as an actor. He went through a rough patch, but seems to be getting some promising roles in indies now, and he's cleaned up his act.

California Scrub Jay was supposed to be a voice of his generation. His fiery speeches were compelling and convincing. He had a way of communicating that cut through typical political lines, speaking clearly both to the common man, and to the more idealistic types. Unfortunately, he kept getting caught sending inappropriate pictures, and in the mail, which made it even weirder. He survived a few scandals, but eventually retreated from the public eye. Years later, seeing what people are now willing to accept from their political leaders, he wonders why things turned out this way for him. In the end, he betrayed himself by believing that he could not fall in this way.

Anna's Hummingbird was talked into an adjustable rate mortgage when he didn't really have a stable enough income to cover it. Sure enough, times didn't stay green forever, and the house was repossessed, and financially he's never really recovered. The messed up part is that the shady realtor was his mother. Did she sabotage Anna's Hummingbird on purpose? Or was it a sub-conscious lashing-out as a result of their constant disagreements about the lifestyle choices he made? Either way, she knew about the risks and convinced him to go into it anyway. Anna's Hummingbird's credit score is still really bad. What a messed up thing to do.

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phoebe
Fore River Sanctuary, Portland, Maine, USA
August 2016
Member of the Member Tyrant Family
§A Zipper of Flycatchers§

~true bird fact~ A weird loner of a bird if there ever was one, the Eastern Phoebe is unique in that she chooses not to spend time with others of her kind. Even mating pairs don't spend time with one another, and females often chase their mate away while she's still on the nest.

~true bird history~ The first bird to ever be 'banded' in North America. A silver strand was wrapped around his leg by John James Audubon himself in 1804, so that he would be able to tell when (and to where) this particular bird would return to every year. Banding is still the primary way we keep track of bird migration patterns.

Refined tastes, a collector of fine things
A master of unilaterally ending conversations
Holds self and others to an unfairly high standard
Struggles to express affection, warmth

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Ash-throated Flycatcher
San Luis Obispo, California, USA
July 2014
Member of the Tyrant Flycatcher Family
§A Zapper of Flycatchers§ (all suggested collective nouns for flycatchers seem to be playing this lame game. Other options included 'swatting' of flycatchers or 'outfield' of flycatchers. I do not approve.)

~true bird fact~ Ash-throated flycatchers are another bird that has adapted unusually well to the presence of humans, often making their nests in cavities of man-made objects such as lamp posts, pipes, fence posts, or porches. Historically flycatchers built bowl nests and attempted to just disguise them to dissuade predation. You can still see evidence of this in their interestingly camouflaged eggs.

Overhears your conversation and just starts talking to you, even though he doesn't know you
Often befuddled
Frequenter of yard sales, always tries to haggle
Sarcasm is a pet peeve

Say's Phoebe

Say's Phoebe
Lake Del Valle, Livermore, California, USA
October 2015
Member of the Flycatcher Family
§A Zapper of Flycatchers (dubious)§

~true bird fact~ Say's Phoebes are really tough and love dry, arid, desolate landscapes. They live the furthest north of any Flycatcher, and would probably go even further if they could. The only thing stopping them is a lack of places to nest, and humans are helping with that. They breed even north of the treeline, using the Alaska pipeline as a place to build their nests.


Harbors a great amount of guilt for some past action
Finds beauty in unexpected places
Prefers to speak minimally
Makes good money, but always sends it 'home' to some unknown end


...

Thomas Say

1787-1834

An American self-taught, naturalist-of-all-trades, Thomas Say was actually best known for his work in Entomology (Insects) and Conchology (Shells). So well known, in fact, that he is known as the father of descriptive entomology. Say had a brief, but exciting life, helping to found the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, making expeditions into the previously uncharted territory of the Rocky Mountains and islands off the coast of Georgia and Florida, (...well, uncharted by white people), and eventually marrying the first female member of the American Academy of Sciences, Lucy Way Sistare. He met Lucy when he lived in an experimental Utopian socialist society called New Harmony, that he arrived at via a barge that was called "The Boatload of Knowledge" at the time. You probably want to read about this, because it's incredible. He died of typhoid fever at 47, having deliberately avoided making any money from his work, much to the detriment of his family.

Birds of Costa Rica: All the rest pt. 3

Three weeks ago I promised you guys I'd wrap up these Costa Rica birds, but like Peter Jackson I underestimated the size of the project and ended up stretching what should have been a simple story into a trilogy. I won't keep you waiting any longer, nor will I be adding bad CGI orks unnecessarily. Unlike a Peter Jackson movie, this series is actually going to end. Check out parts one and two if you need to catch up. Onward to birds!

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher aka. Texas bird-of-paradise aka. Swallow-tailed Flycatcher (
Tirano-tijereta rosado)
Playa Conchal, Costa Rica
Member of the Flycatcher Family 
★State Bird of Oklahoma★ (on the state quarter even!)
§A Pinking of Flycatchers§

~true bird fact~ Scissor-tailed Flycatchers sometimes wander far, far outside of their normal range during migration seasons. Normally only found in Texax, Kansas, and Oklahoma, they have been spotted in southern Canada and as far east as Florida. I guess they must get confused.

Appears to ask you confounding riddles or impossible thought problems and then disappears before you can answer.

Black-headed Trogon
Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Member of the Trogons and Quetzals Family

~true bird fact~ Can turn his head 180 degrees, like an owl. Also, makes his home in arboreal hanging termite nests. What a strange guy.

 Loves to relax

Inca Dove (tórtola cola larga (lit. Long Tailed Dove) o tortolita mexicana (lit. Little Mexican Dove)
Playa Tamarindo, Costa Rica
Member of the Pidgeons and Doves Family
★Does not, in fact, live anywhere in the former Incan Empire★
§A Cote of Doves§

~true bird fact~ In winter, these doves have an unusual way of keeping warm. They form a dove-pyramid of up to 12 birds. Boy I wish I could see that.

Has an international mindset. Reads a lot of different news papers.

Birds of Costa Rica: All the rest pt. 2

Last week I promised you guys we'd finish with these birds this week. While my heart and my best intentions still tell me that's true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not. It just turned out to be more birds than I thought you guys,  and identifying all of them proved tricky. Let's take this as good news, as it means we have even more cool birds from Costa Rica to observe. Check out part one of our coverage here! We'll start today with known flappy-bird-resembler Yellow Warbler


Yellow Warbler aka Summer Yellowbird (colloq.) (reinita de manglar)
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Member of the Wood-Warbler Family
§A Trepidation of Warblers§

~true bird fact~ Yellow Warblers are famous for their 'sweet sweet' song. Males staking out a new territory will often have sing-offs with each other to assert dominance. Generally if one bird 'gets served' then 'it's on'. 

Doesn't like to let things go. Has dramatic opinions about people.

Great Kiskadee (benteveo (lit. I see you well!))

Playa Tamarindo, Guancaste, Costa Rica
Member of the Flycatcher Family
§A Shower of Kiskadees§

~true bird fact~ This guy is described as 'bold' almost every where you look, but there's one thing he's not bold about: Coral Snakes. In what must border on a phobia, Kiskadees will stay away from anything that shares his most feared predator's black-yellow-red color pattern. Really, who can blame him?

A great quote about Kiskadees from naturalist William Henry Hudson "(The Great Kiskadee) seems to have studied to advantage the various habits of the Kestrel, Flycatcher, Kingfisher, Vulture, and fruit-eating Thrush; and when its weapons prove weak it supplements them with its cunning.”

A cool anti-hero bandit type. We all root for him in his struggle against 'The Man'.

Roadside Hawk (gavilán pollero(lit. Chicken Hawk))
Guanacaste, Costa Rica
Member of the Kites, Eagles, and Hawks Family
§A Tower of Hawks§

~true bird fact~ The smallest member of his family. Attacks people more often than most birds, as he does well in urban areas, and becomes aggressive when nesting.

Is the owner of a dive bar, where he is also the bouncer

Black Phoebe

Black Phoebe
Roseville, California, USA
Member of the Flycatcher Family
§An Outfield of Flycatchers§

~true bird fact~  Males of the species will select a variety of nesting sites and show them to his paired female by hovering over them momentarily, one by one. She chooses the site and builds the nest, a bowl-shaped affair made of mud.

Spends a lot of time gazing wistfully out over water
Makes decisions that seem rash or sudden to friends, but he has thought it all through ahead of time
Has a poet's heart, but never writes anything down
Nostalgic