Alder flycatcher hard to identify

The alder flycatcher was the star of several Audubon bird walks recently. Anyone who was not into birds would be puzzled about that. Why would these folks be so excited about a 5-inch bird, dull olive on its back, and white smudged with gray on its front?

The alder flycatcher is a hard bird to see. It perches in the alders, true to its name. It sings its song, if you want to call it a song, to the rhythm and intonations of a raspy “we-be-o.” Many birdwatchers thought it sounded like a phoebe.

No wonder – both the alder flycatcher and the phoebe are in the same bird family, the flycatcher family. Members of that family perch on a branch, fly out to catch a fly – or mosquito, or other flying insect – and fly back to the same branch.

The alder flycatcher is hard to identify. New or intermediate birdwatchers, if they happen to see an alder flycatcher, would turn the pages of the bird book, find the flycatcher page, look at all the look-alike birds, look again at the bird – if it were still there – look again at the book and give up.

That’s why those birdwatchers were delighted that the Audubon volunteer leader heard the bird, located it and pointed it out to them. Then the leader pointed out the important features about the bird and the rhythm of the song.

Participants saw the bird well; watched it open its bill, throw its head back as it rasped out its song; heard and saw it sing over and over; saw it from the front, from the back, from the side; studied the bird in the bird book and committed it to memory.

Some participants put a check in their bird book by the alder flycatcher. Some have gone further, counting the numbers of checks in their bird book. They may have seen, for example, 184 bird species in their life.

That’s their “life list.” Every new bird is a joy, a thrill. Then they are birders like the bird walk leaders. Birders look everywhere for birds. They search for rare birds. They plan trips around birding. They are hooked on birds.

For information on Fields Pond Audubon Center, call 989-2591.