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Hi all This morning went out for a spot of ‘late’ birding out at the Ikoro site again (eucalyptus tree dominated and rock with fairly dense undergrowth in places, 1850m altitude). I came across this brown flycatcher which caught my attention as it was hawking from small branches. Looking not only slightly bigger than a Dusky Flycatcher but also more slender and not the dumpy look of the latter, too small for Pale FC anyway. Getting closer to it, I noticed the light malar stripes on a buffy/off-white (much lighter than chest) throat – this had me puzzled. Below this there a bit of a light brownish wash going lighter down to a very light vent with hint of vertical blotches, not sure I’d call it streaking really. Luck was on my side and I managed to hammer off a few photos with the bird giving pretty good side and rear views but not a full frontal unfortunately. The photos below have only been sharpened and cropped in Photoshop – colours, contrast etc have not been touched. 1. Side view (1): 
2. Side view (2): http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2785/4424020335_1a6b951651.jpg 3. Rear view: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4424787504_8ac5ee8f0b_b.jpg Looking at the photos on the pc back home, I noticed the very light yellowish – almost pale orange base of the lower mandible. Zooming in on the other photos I saw that this was not just a dark bill tip like the White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher toruensis race (which this bird seemed smaller than too). Forehead appears pale too compared to top of the head – well, pale area between eyes over bill. There does Head Photos zoomed: 1. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2802/4424002103_cd73d366c9_o.jpg 2. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4424785256_819113042e_o.jpg Also clear on the one photo, the primaries look very short and not going past the vent and the wings are not even completely folded in on this photo. · Vent/tail photo “un-zoomed”: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2686/4424789484_ce44ab0d2f.jpg · Vent/tail photo zoomed: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2788/4424025461_2a6bf1ce46_o.jpg Is this an ‘odd’ immature of one of the brown flycatchers (no sign or hint of yellow gape) or a Spotted Flycatcher a near/sub-adult of Spotted FC? If so, what’s on with the yellow-ish base of the lower mandible? Only brown flycatcher I can find in S&F with the latter is Gambaga Flycatcher, and it’s distribution seems limited to isolated patches across central Kenya and northern Uganda. The closest I can in S&F is the Gambaga Flycatcher with which I have no experience at all. Can anybody help with this please? Cheers Marcell
Elegant Africa Ltd Blogs: http://rwandabirdingguide.blogspot.com/ http://birdingbeyondsunset.blogspot.com/ Rwanda Bird Atlas:
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1Comment
at Saturday, 13 March 2010 09:40
The closest photo I have seen to your mystery bird is that of a Dusky Flycatcher. Some photos of the Dusky Flycatcher (including one that I have taken: http://i40.tinypic.com/qsunwj.jpg) show the orange base on the lower mandible. Some photos even show the light malar stripe you are referring to but there is no eye ring visible (perhaps a hint of one developing?). The only explanation I can think of is maybe it is an imm. or sub adult. Although, the general posture doesn’t seem to match.
The lack of streaking on the forehead rules out the Spotted Flycatcher for me but again, it could by an imm. or sub adult.
2Comment
at Thursday, 18 March 2010 14:13
any news on your mystery flycatcher Marcell?
is it perhaps just an imm or sub adult of a Dusky FC?
3Comment
at Thursday, 18 March 2010 14:27
the emails in the yahoo group indicate it could in fact be a Gamabaga, Marcell is just waiting for some more "expert" opinions!
4Comment
at Friday, 19 March 2010 13:00
oh wow! that is exciting!
keep us posted Marcell!
5Comment
at Tuesday, 23 March 2010 09:10
Really interesting stuff MC
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