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Pacific-slope flycatcher

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Description

Small, olive-colored bird with a teardrop-shaped eyering and peaked crown. The belly is generally yellower and lighter than the rest of the body and the tail and wings are the darkest, though there is some notable variation in color between specimens. Wings have two white wingbars.

Sound

The Pacific-slope flycatcher is nearly identical to the cordilleran flycatcher physically. They were notoriously hard to differentiate while they were separate species, and birders relied solely on sound and range for identification during that time. Even then, identification was extremely difficult due to variation in sound between specimens and the fact that the two subspecies freely hybridize. In general, however, the male's position note and both gender's dawn song can help with identification. In the Pacific-slope flycatcher, the male position note is one syllabled, (pew-weet) while the cordilleran's is two. (we-peet) In the dawn song, the Pacific-slope flycatcher's position note is two parted, (weh-pit) and the cordilleran flycatcher's is one-parted. (wee-oo) These differences are sometimes easier noticed on a sonograph then by ear. (See reference 5 for audio)

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