LOUISIANA BIRD RECORDS COMMITTEE

REPORT FORM

1. English and Scientific names: Say’s Phoebe, Sayornis saya

2. Number of individuals, sexes, ages, general plumage (e.g., 2 in alternate plumage):  1

3. Locality: LOUISIANA: (parish)  Cameron

Specific Locality: The Lighthouse Road/LNG plant area, about 10 mi. W of Johnsons Bayou.

4. Date(s) when observed: 1 October 2011

5. Time(s) of day when observed: about 12:15 p.m.

6. Reporting observer and address:

Paul Conover

Lafayette, LA

7. Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s): Mac Myers

8. Other observers who independently identified the bird(s): Dave Patton had discovered the bird a few minutes earlier and alerted us to its presence.

9. Light conditions (position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light): Good midday sunshine.

10. Optical equipment (type, power, condition): Zeiss 10s, Nikon D200 (300 mm lens). 

11. Distance to bird(s): down to 40 yards, estimate

12. Duration of observation:  5minutes 

13. Habitat: When we saw the bird, it was perched on a long section of hurricane fence on the edge of a huge fenced complex.

14. Behavior of bird / circumstances of observation:  Bird was seen perched on fence. As we approached for viewing, it would take flight down the line and resettle farther down. We played this game with it for hundreds of yards, until it finally moved away from the road into a nearby brushline.

15. Description (include only what was actually seen, not what "should" have been seen; include if possible: total length/relative size compared to other familiar species, body bulk, shape, proportions, bill, eye, leg, and plumage characteristics. Stress features that separate it from similar species):

A flycatcher about the size and shape of an Eastern Phoebe but with different color pattern. A largely medium-gray bird with a blackish tail and a rusty orange-brown earth tone from the belly through the undertail area. Despite its blend of colors, the bird had a drabness to its overall color usually associated with birds of drier habitats. Flight feathers and median and greater coverts slightly darker than upperparts and lesser coverts and edged in paler gray. Wingbars formed from coverts appeared grayish, not buff. Eyes dark, bill and legs blackish.

16. Voice: None noted 

17. Similar species (include how they were eliminated by your observation):

No other flycatcher has this vaguely catbird-like color pattern. Vermilion flycatcher can have orangey-red undertail, but is pale-breasted, and not as long-bodied.

18. Photographs or tape recordings obtained? (by whom? attached?): Photos, attached.

19. Previous experience with this species: I had seen this species pretty widely a few months before out west, and have fairly wide previois experience with it.

20. Identification aids: (list books, illustrations, other birders, etc. used in identification):

a. at time of observation:

b. after observation:

21. This description is written from: memory and photos  

22. Are you positive of your identification if not, explain: Yes.

23. Date: 10/15/2011