Leaden V Satin flycatcher

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Macca

Leaden V Satin flycatcher

Post by Macca »

Looking for advice on distinguishing between the Satin and Leaden flycatchers. We have male and female sightings daily, but have trouble with an ID on them.

(Just finished The Big Twitch by Sean Dooley - great read!)
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Mick Atzeni
Posts: 1843
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:08 pm

Satin and Leaden Flycatcher

Post by Mick Atzeni »

Hi Macca

It's a good question and I'll say up front that, after 30 years birding, I still struggle occasionally, particularly, from below in poor light. Not even the experts would bet their house on a positive ID every time, particularly the females and immatures. Field guides aside, I find the Satin a more robust bird and that is often the first clue.

I've witnessed it enough times in the field to know that male Leadens are a perennial problem for novice birders. They seem hell bent on turning them into Satins if they can!

I also suspect the Satin, although much rarer, is probably underreported in appropriate habitats because they are dismissed as Leadens, particularly females.

Around Toowoomba, both species are Spring/Summer migrants and most sightings (say > 97%) are Leadens. Satins and Leadens can turn up in odd places during transit e.g. in suburban gardens. Satins for the main tend to be seen in denser habitats in the escarpment parks like Redwood Park. You are far more likely to see a Leaden flycatcher in your yard.

While both species can occur together you are much more likely, for instance, to see a Satin in the vine scrub along the creek in Redwood but probably never a Leaden. The Leaden tends to favour the taller vegetation bordering the vine scrub (the ecotone) and more open areas of the Park.

General ID comments: I won't repeat what the field guides say but encourage you to read ALL of them in this case.

Nothing beats field experience with these. In both sexes the Satin is a more robust and striking bird to me. Once you've seen a couple you'll know what I mean- the Leaden, especially the female, just comes across as a daintier, more "toned down" bird.

Males: My rule of thumb - if you have anything less than glossy black - I'm talking Satin Bowerbird-type plumage - you have a 99.9% Leaden. A pencil's lead can look very dark, even have a lustre in good light, but it's stretching the imagination to say it's a glossy blue-black! Get my drift? Furthermore, the sheen of the Leaden is more blue-green than gun-metal blue of the Satin. But the light can sometimes do funny things so I'm not saying this is diagnostic.

Females: Satins throats are uniformly coloured and generally richer orange. I also find the eye-ring of the Satin is more conspicuous - shows up as white on bottom edge. This is not mentioned in field guides so not saying this is diagnostic either - just a consistent feature in the few Satin females I've seen. Suggest you have a look at a few photos e.g. search for both species on Google's Images option (see if you can pick the misidentified ones too!). The female Satin in the Reader's Digest is a good photo.

Then there's the slight call differences but I don't hear the Satin often enough for it to ever click!

Hope this helps.
Michael Atzeni
7 Woden St, Murphys Creek 4352
Mob: 0499 395 485
macca

thanks

Post by macca »

Thanks Mick - your response makes sense. Being very close to Highfields Falls on acreage, and following your explanation, I tend to think we do have 'satins' here fairly often.
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Mick Atzeni
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Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:08 pm

Satin Flycatchers

Post by Mick Atzeni »

Macca

I suspect they're a very good chance around the Highfields Falls area.

When you're confident you've seen one, I encourage you to submit a Rare Bird Report as this is one of the species we haven't recorded so far for our 250 in 2006 Challenge.

If you can supply a photo, all the better!

Thanks for your feedback.

Happy birding
Michael Atzeni
7 Woden St, Murphys Creek 4352
Mob: 0499 395 485
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Mick Atzeni
Posts: 1843
Joined: Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:08 pm

Satin Flycatcher pics

Post by Mick Atzeni »

The images on these sites depict the key features to look for in identifying Satin Flycatchers as pointed out by Graeme Chapman at our recent photographic workshop.

.://..graemechapman.com.au/cgi-bin ... .php?c=184
.://matncathy.blogspot.com/
Michael Atzeni
7 Woden St, Murphys Creek 4352
Mob: 0499 395 485
Sandra
Posts: 63
Joined: Sun Mar 05, 2006 8:55 am
Location: Yeronga, Brisbane

Post by Sandra »

At the workshop, Graeme pointed out that the angle between the breast band and wing is different. In the Satin it is obtuse and in the Leaden it is acute. Apparently this is not in the field Guides.
Sandra Dunglison
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