Pied Fly

A slightly long winged 1st year male Pied Flycatcher caught at Buckton this weekend (wing of 84mm, normal range ending at 83mm).


When dealing with black and white flycatchers ageing is vital, this bird shows an obvious step in the white border on the bottom edge of its tertial feathers - this ages the bird as a first winter, this is also supported by the pointy tail tips. The black tail and longest upper tail covert is strongly indicative of this bird being a male.


Identification for a 1st winter bird is then based on the extent and of the white primary base patch, on this bird it begins on the 6th primary. It appears much closer to the edge of the wing in Collared Flyctacher from the 2nd-3rd primary base, giving the bird a large and extensive white wing spot on the folded wing.