Myiarchus cinerascens cinerascens
Status: Rare casual summer visitor west. Accidental breeder Kimball Co.
Documentation: Photograph: 9 Jul 2007 Kimball Co (Mollhoff et al 2008, Brogie 2008).
Taxonomy: A recent decision by AOS (Chesser et al 2018) rearranged the order of subfamilies within the Tyrannidae, placing Tyranninae (Nebraska-occurring genera Myiarchus, Pitangus, Tyrannus) ahead of Fluvicolinae (Nebraska-occurring genera Contopus, Empidonax, Sayornis, Pyrocephalus). We follow this order of genera.
Two weakly-differentiated subspecies are recognized, pertinax of Baja California, and cinerascens of southwest USA and western Mexico (Gill et al 2022).
Nebraska birds are cinerascens.
Summer: There are six documented records.
The first documented record for the state was of one seen near the White River north of Chadron, Dawes Co 29 Aug 1987 (Mollhoff 1989, Williams 1988).
The next five records are from the same site about 1-2 miles south of I-80 Exit 1 in Kimball Co.
A single was found 28 Jun 2007 and photographed 9-10 Jul; subsequently the presence of a breeding pair there was confirmed 15 Jul with adults feeding fledged young 18 Jul (Mollhoff et al 2008, Mollhoff 2008); the last sighting there was of a single adult 11 Aug.
A single bird was at the same location 22 Jun-5 Jul 2009 (Brogie 2009).
Another was found 26 Jun 2019 by Ray Korpi and first photographed by Boni Edwards 29 Jun 2019. Also in 2019, Two were seen 5-7 Jul, and single birds were reported and photographed by several observers through 17 Jul (Brogie 2020).
At least one was photographed and recorded 19-28 Jun 2021 (Brogie 2022). No evidence of breeding was reported.
In 2022, one was photographed 26 May (Brogie 2023).
There are four additional sightings in Scotts Bluff and Sioux Cos. One was in a yard near Morrill, Scotts Bluff Co 12 Jul 2009, but the sighting was not accepted by the NOURC (Brogie 2009). Another, seen at Riverside Park, Scottsbluff, 4 Sep 2000 by an experienced observer, was also not accepted by the NOURC (Jorgensen 2002). A calling bird was identified by observers experienced with the species in Colorado in lower Sowbelly Canyon, Sioux Co 20 Jul 2000. One was well-described at Wind Springs Ranch, Sioux Co 4 May 2009. In Kimball Co, a report of one at Oliver Reservoir 15 Jun 2022 was not accepted by NOURC (Brogie 2023).
Comments: There are a number of records in southeast Wyoming and northeast Colorado of Ash-throated Flycatcher (eBird.org, accessed Nov 2023). The species is an established breeder in extreme southwestern Kansas (Thompson et al 2011). There are no records for North Dakota, South Dakota, or Iowa (Tallman et al 2002; IOURC, accessed Nov 2023; eBird.org accessed Nov 2023).
A set of eggs collected in Otoe Co 26 Jun 1907 (UNSM ZM8555) and ascribed to Ash-throated Flycatcher is now considered to have been mis-identified and are in fact eggs of Great Crested Flycatcher (Mollhoff 2022).
Images
Abbreviations
NOURC: Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee
UNSM: University of Nebraska State Museum
Literature Cited
Brogie, M.A. 2008. 2007 (19th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 76: 111-119.
Brogie, M.A. 2009. 2009 (21st) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 77: 160-168.
Brogie, M.A. 2020. 2019 (31st) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 88: 124-134.
Brogie, M.A. 2022. 2021 (33rd) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 90: 113-122.
Brogie, M.A. 2023. 2022 (34th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 91: 114-122.
Chesser, R.T., K.J. Burns, C. Cicero, J.L. Dunn, A.W Kratter, I.J. Lovette, P.C. Rasmussen, J.V. Remsen, Jr., D.F. Stotz, B.M. Winger, and K. Winker. 2018. Fifty-ninth Supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s Check-list of North American Birds. Auk 135: 798-813. https://doi.org/10.1642/AUK-18-62.1.
Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Eds). 2022. IOC World Bird List (v 12.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.12.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
Jorgensen, J.G. 2002. 2002 (sic; =2000). (12th) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 70: 84-90.
Mollhoff, W.J. 1989. Second report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 57: 42-47.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2008. The 2007 Nebraska nest report. NBR 76: 155-165.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2022. Nest records of Nebraska birds. Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Occasional Paper Number 9.
Mollhoff, W.J., J. Gubanyi, and M.A. Brogie. 2008. First report of Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) breeding in the Nebraska Panhandle. NBR 76: 32-37.
Tallman, D.A., Swanson, D.L., and J.S. Palmer. 2002. Birds of South Dakota. Midstates/Quality Quick Print, Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA.
Thompson, M.C., C.A. Ely, B. Gress, C. Otte, S.T. Patti, D. Seibel, and E.A. Young. 2011. Birds of Kansas. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.
Williams, F. 1988. Southern Great Plains Region. American Birds 42: 96-100.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2024. Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 24 Mar 2024