{"id":60091,"date":"2019-09-08T05:24:21","date_gmt":"2019-09-08T11:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=60091"},"modified":"2022-05-11T04:07:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T10:07:37","slug":"gray-flycatcher-perched-in-fragrant-sumac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/09\/08\/gray-flycatcher-perched-in-fragrant-sumac\/","title":{"rendered":"Gray Flycatcher Perched In Fragrant Sumac"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GrayGray Flycatcher in Fragrant Sumac – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While I was out looking for birds to photograph yesterday I briefly caught sight of a flycatcher that I took a few documentary photos of which turned out better than I thought they would. I took the photos primarily because some small flycatchers known as empids can be notoriously hard to ID and I wanted to challenge myself with the identification of this particular bird.<\/p>\n

As it turns out this flycatcher gave me a wonderful behavioral clue that made identifying it a little easier for me because I watched it wag its tail slowly up and down repeatedly while perched which Gray Flycatchers are known to do. The longish tail with white outer edges plus the thin, white eye ring also led me in the direction of a Gray Flycatcher identification. Similar looking Dusky Flycatchers are on the move now too but they do not flick their tails up and down repeatedly like Gray Flycatchers do.<\/p>\n

Hearing and comparing the calls of empids is usually the best way to identify them but this flycatcher was silent, during this time of the year I’ve found that most of them are which can be exasperating!<\/p>\n

I wouldn’t bet my life on my Gray Flycatcher identification of this empid because they are extremely challenging but I am fairly confident of my ID.<\/p>\n

I liked how the Gray Flycatcher appears to be peeking at me from behind the Fragrant sumac branch, the colors and how the other out of focus sumac branches in the background give some depth to this image that would be lacking without them. I was only able to take five images of the flycatcher on this perch before it took off and flew to another sumac in the distance.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Gray Flycatcher photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As it turns out this flycatcher gave me a wonderful behavioral clue that made identifying it a little easier for me because I watched it wag its tail slowly up and down repeatedly while perched which Gray Flycatchers are known to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,27,1148,413,26],"tags":[7659,215,6577,4098,701,5241,3808,4884,6767,2421,5013,6768,7474,7630,2315,7660],"class_list":["post-60091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bird-identification","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-gray-flycatcher","category-utah","tag-behavioral-clue","tag-bird-id","tag-branches","tag-desert","tag-empidonax-wrightii","tag-empids","tag-flycatcher","tag-flycatchers","tag-fragrant-sumac","tag-gray-flycatcher","tag-identification","tag-rhus-aromatica","tag-seep","tag-sumac","tag-summer-3","tag-wagging-tail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/gray-flycatcher-fragrant-sumac-mia-mcpherson-2906.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fDd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15123,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/06\/02\/least-flycatcher\/","url_meta":{"origin":60091,"position":0},"title":"Least 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2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As I watched the Gray Flycatcher it flew towards me, snatched a damselfly from mid air then landed on a dead branch not too far away and proceeded to eat it while I photographed the bird.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gray Flycatcher with Damselfly","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/gray-flycatcher-damselfy-mia-mcpherson-utah-8063.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/gray-flycatcher-damselfy-mia-mcpherson-utah-8063.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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