Vermilion Flycatchers are one of my favorite birds. They definitely rank in my Top 5, maybe second to the Snowy Owl. Who's to judge though? All birds are awesome! The males are downright beautiful, with their bright red plumage, and their song is music to my ears. The females are equally as easy to look at, but definitely do not give off the same "boom" the male does. In the southwest, Vermilion Flycatcher are rather common in local parks with mesquite and much less common in native mesquite bosques.
Our backyard in Blythe, CA consists of similar habitat to the local parks and therefore supports three breeding pairs of Vermilion Flycatchers. The Palo Verde Cemetery in town has at least two as well. Over the past few weeks, I've been able to
Phone Skope nesting activity and perched birds.
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| Vermilion Flycatcher at Palo Verde Cemetery, Blythe, CA. iPhone photo by Tim Schreckengost. |
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| Vermilion Flycatcher nest at The River Estates, Blythe, CA. Photo by Tim Schreckengost. |
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| Vermilion Flycatcher nest at The River Estates, Blythe, CA. iPhone photo by Tim Schreckengost. |
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| Vermilion Flycatcher nest at The River Estates, Blythe, CA. iPhone photo by Tim Schreckengost. |
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| Vermilion Flycatcher at Martinez Lake Camground, AZ. iPhone photo by Tim Schreckengost. |
If you haven't seen a Vermilion Flycatcher, you need to check out the areas from the eBird records pictured above. Go. See. A. Vermilion. Flycatcher. It will change your life. I'm sure everyone that has seen one, will agree with me, right? Who's seen one? Let me know where you have seen Vermilion Flycatchers in the comments!
All images, except for the second Vermilion Flycatcher on nest, were taken with the following setup:
Cheers,
Tim of thermalbirding.com
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Simply awesome images! You should add this link to I'd Rather B Birdin' - the Bird D'Pot meme this weekend.
ReplyDeleteIncredible. I love them all, but I think my favorite is the V. Flycatcher in flight. They're difficult subjects to capture just perched, let alone getting perfection of flight like you managed.
Thanks, Anni!
DeleteI have not had the pleasure of seeing a Vermilion Flycatcher yet, so it's especially nice to view your wonderful photographs. Gorgeous bird! I love the nest shots.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie!
DeleteInteresting comment about Vermilion Flycatchers being found more frequently in local parks. Now that you mention it, my experience with them in Arizona was that they did prefer the mesquite trees in the somewhat manicured state park near our home where the understory was somewhat cleared out. In the more dense natural areas, they were never seen. I love the male's red color that for me defines the color vermilion.
ReplyDeleteIn my three summers/field seasons along the lower Colorado River, I've only found them in native patches once. I'm happy they adapted to sprawl.
Delete...really enjoyed this post. Loved getting a peak into the nest at the babies!
ReplyDeleteThey are wonderful birds and always make people stop. I think Tucson has the highest counts of these birds in the US. They are certainly everywhere here:)
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos Tim! Love the ones of the babies in the nest. :-)
ReplyDelete