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A Field Guide to North American Flycatchers - Empidonax and Pewees by Cin-Ty Lee and Andrew Birch; Illustrated by Andrew Birch 2023. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford. ISBN 9780691240626 (paperback). 5x8 in, 157 pages
Review by Frank Lambert
(photos by Nigel Voaden)
The Field Guide to North American Flycatchers is not a guide to all the flycatchers occurring in North America, but rather a comprehensive field guide that covers all the 18 smaller flycatcher species in the genera Empidonax, Contopus (the Pewees), and Tufted Flycatcher Mitrephanes phaeocercus. Other flycatchers that occur, namely Kingbirds, Phoebes, and Myiarchus flycatchers are not covered in this guide.
Many field guides cover this many species in two plates and a few pages, but here is a guide of around 160 pages devoted to the notoriously challenging topic of smaller flycatcher identification.
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Tufted Flycatcher, the easiest species to identify in this field guide (© N. Voaden)
The authors introduce the concept of holistic field identification
as a way to approach the identification of members of this notoriously tricky group of birds, in which key parameters, such as habitat and range, are combined with observations of essential field marks like structure, shape, and, perhaps most importantly, vocalizations in identifying the species. Of course, this is nothing new, being standard practice for keen observers of birds for decades, and just as applicable to other difficult bird groups such as gulls and sparrows.
Non-vocalizing Empidonax flycatchers are often the most difficult to identify, but using this book will assist greatly in narrowing down the species, and hopefully identifying most individuals, especially once one has gained experience in looking at key characters and memorised vocalisations.
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American Dusky Flycatcher Empidonax oberholseri, one of the twelve species of Empidonax occuring in North America (photo © Nigel Voaden)
Review American Flycatchers Princeton: About
The difficulty in identification comes down to the fact that separating these species depends on assessing various field marks that are not only very subtly different between species, but also painstakingly hard to distinguish and verify in the field. Hence prolonged close views, photographs and sound recordings that can be used in retrospect, are often invaluable.
Review American Flycatchers Princeton: About
Hammond's Flycatcher, one of the species with a dark lower mandible (© Nigel Voaden)
The authors introduce the concept of holistic field identification as a way to approach the identification of members of this notoriously tricky group of birds, in which key parameters, such as habitat and range, are combined with observations of essential field marks like structure, shape, and, perhaps most importantly, vocalizations in identifying the species. Of course, this is nothing new, being standard practice for keen observers of birds for decades, and just as applicable to other difficult bird groups such as gulls and sparrows.
Non-vocalizing Empidonax flycatchers can be considerably more difficult to identify, but using this book will assist greatly in narrowing down the species, and hopefully in identifying most individuals, especially once one has gained experience in looking at key characters and learned about differences in vocalizations.
Review American Flycatchers Princeton: About
Least Flycatcher is one of the more difficult Empidonax species to identify (© N Voaden)
The first section of the book also includes brief discussion on behaviour (such as the importance of noting wing and tail flicking), age and moult; vocalisations (in particular, how to read the spectrograms included in the Species Accounts), and habitat preference. The final part of this introductory 46-page section of the book concentrates on range, seasonal status, and migration, and includes essential information on how to interpret the maps and seasonal abundance charts which are provided for every species in the Species Account.
To summarise all the information included in this introductory chapter, there is a “Field Mark Matrix” (which is essentially a table that shows which species exhibit which field marks, and whether they usually flick their wings or tails) and a “Visual Similarity Map”. Two pages of line drawings enable the user to compare the shape, structure, and size of the 18 species included in the book.
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Buff-breasted Flycatcher is one of the more distinctive Empidonax flycatchers, as indicated on the
Visual Similarity Map (© Nigel Voaden)
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The second part of the book are the individual Species Accounts, in which 101 pages are devoted to providing all the detail considered necessary to identify the flycatchers included in the guide. Here the guide has a somewhat unusual format in which the most similar-looking species, namely Western and Eastern Wood-Pewee, Willow and Alder Flycatcher, Pacific-slope and Cordilleran Flycatcher, are treated alongside each other in a single account. Olive-sided Flycatcher and Wood Pewee are also compared side by side for good measure!
Additionally, although Hammond’s Dusky, Gray and Least Flycatchers have their own species accounts, there is a 7-page section in which these four species are compared, with illustrations and spectrograms of calls shown alongside each other.
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Example text and illustrations from this excellent book
Review American Flycatchers Princeton: About
The text of the species accounts is divided into sections that cover General Identification (size, shape, structure, key field marks and behaviour), Voice (songs and calls are described and transcribed), Range and Habitat (divided into breeding and wintering grounds, as well as during migration), and Similar Species. Each account is augmented by superb, sometimes life-size, illustrations by Andy Birch that depict all the important details and variation within each species.
Whilst the great majority are colour, these are accompanied with line drawings in places that emphasize simple differences between species such as body or bill shape, or primary projection.
Review American Flycatchers Princeton: About
Differences in vocalisations are very often the most important means of identifying the flycatchers included in this field guide, so the spectrograms are key components of the guide. These are provided for every species and are best used in conjunction with the text. Calls, dawn songs and evening songs are all included where relevant, but I would recommend that users supplement this visual aid by listening to sounds as well. These days, there are many sources with sound recordings that can easily be accessed whilst in the field.
Try this link, for example.
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The range maps are rather detailed and comprehensive, showing breeding and winter ranges, as well as migration routes, times, and directions. Most species have two maps, one for Spring Migration, and one showing Fall Migration, something that I have never seen in a field guide before. The maps are large, with clearly defined colours to depict different things, and show the full migration route, which may include South America where relevant.
Alongside the maps are Abundance Tables for several locations, north to south, that are connected by arrows to sites on the maps. These illustrate the approximate abundance at these points at different times of the year.
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Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Santa Cruz Island, California (photo © Nigel Voaden)
Field Guide to North American Flycatchers: Empidonax and Pewees is a unique and excellent field guide, and one very well worth having if you are interested in trying to improve your identification skills when it relates to the often-challenging identification of these commonly encountered flycatcher species. The relatively small size of the book means that it can fit into a large pocket, and it certainly won’t weigh you down if you choose to carry it in your backpack.
Cin-Ty Lee and Andrew Birch should be congratulated on producing such a well-designed, comprehensive, and beautifully illustrated guide that will surely aid many users, beginners and experts alike, in their quest to identify Empidonax flycatchers and pewees.
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Review American Flycatchers Princeton: About
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