Sighting Record for Utah

Common name:	Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Scientific name:	Empidonax difficilus
Date:	6/3/18
Time:	8:45 am
Length of time observed:	3 min
Number:	1
Age:	Adult
Sex:	Male
Location:	Lytle Ranch Preserve
County:	Washington
Latilong:	37.1430° N, 114.0231° W
Elevation:	2800'
Distance to bird:	30 feet
Optical equipment:	Pentax ED 8x 43 binos
Weather:	Sunny
Light Conditions:	Sunny
Description: Size of bird:	Smallish
(Description:) Basic Shape:	Flycatcher
(Description:) Overall Pattern:	Greenish-brown above, yellowish below
(Description:) Bill Type:	Triangular
(Description:) Field Marks and Identifying Characteristics:	Greenish-brown upperparts with yellowish underparts. Raggedy crest, yellow lower mandible, narrow eyering pointed behind the eye. Moderately contrasting wingbars and tertials. Short primary projection.
Song or call & method of delivery:	Bird was giving the male position note- tseeweep. Call is more slurred and sounded like a continuous note unlike the two-part note of a Cordilleran. The spectrogram confirmed that this was a single call with a kink in the midde- good for a Pacific-slope Flycatcher
Behavior:	Flycatching in a desert willow with intermittent calling.
Habitat:	Lowland desert riparian
Similar species and how were they eliminated:	Cordillerans look essentially identical to Pacific-slope. This bird looked a little drabber than the average Cordilleran but that is an unreliable field mark. It also seems that Pacific-slope Flycatchers migrate through lowland areas in the Mojave Desert in Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Cordillerans tend to migrate in highland areas. The best way to tell these two species apart is by their calls. Unlike other songbirds, flycatchers don't learn their songs and calls. They are coded into their genetics so that they instinctively given- flycatchers can't give the wrong species calls. This bird was giving the male position note. In Pacific-slope, has one part and the spectrogram shows a kink in the middle of the note. Cordillerans note look distinctively two-parted without a kink in the middle. In the additional comments sections I will add additional resources including my ebird checklist so you can view the spectrogram and two websites with examples of the spectrograms of both Pacific-slope and Cordilleran Flycatchers.
Previous experience with this & similar species:	I have had them at this location before and have seen and heard a decent amount in Washington. Have seen many Cordillerans in Utah.
References consulted:	Sibley Guide to the Birds
Description from:	From photo(s) taken at the time of the sighting
Observer:	Kenny Frisch
Observer's address:	4609 S Wallace Ln Holladay, UT 84117
Observer's e-mail address:	**
Other observers who independently identified this bird:	N/A
Date prepared:	6/9/18
Additional material:	Tape
Additional comments:	Ebird checklist with spectrogram: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S46263689 Spectrograms of male position calls: http://earbirding.com/blog/archives/2996 Additional spectrograms of male position calls (click on the male position note links): http://www.appliedbioacoustics.com/research/wefl/frameindex.html