Purpose and Need for the Project:

The Provincial Museum of Alberta maintains the provincial collection of bird specimens. Over 35,000 specimens provide verifiable evidence of the distribution, plumage and skeletal characteristics and genetic variation of Alberta birds. The collection, which is accessible to biologists, students and the interested public, is fully documented with the data stored on a relational database. In addition to accepting and actively acquiring specimens, the Museum participates in research projects and encourages publication of results in academic and popular journals.

The work, funded in part by the Alberta Conservation Association, is designed to update the status of rare, hard to census and difficult to identify birds. These species are poorly documented and easily overlooked in Status reports. Our goal is to ensure adequate data is available to make sound management decisions for these species.

Empidonax flycatchers, like the "Western" (Empidonax occidentalis, E. difficilis) and the Willow (E. traillii) are among the most difficult birds for birders to identify by sight. Even when museum study skins are examined, the differences among the seven Alberta members of this genus are slight. Fortunately, the vocalizations of each species are distinctive allowing accurate field identification when singing males are encountered in the spring. Most birders though are uncomfortable confirming identifications based solely on voice and as a consequence, only a handful of records are available to document the distribution of these species in Alberta.

In the December 1996 report Status of Alberta Wildlife, the Alberta Natural Resources Service listed the Cordilleran (a member of the Western Flycatcher complex) as a"Yellow B" species as it is rare and is associated with habitats that may be deteriorating. The Willow was listed as "Status Undetermined," which simply means that more information needs to be gathered to determine if the species is at risk. For both species, the lack of confirmed records is the key factor making the assessment of status problematic.

During the summer of 1999, the Provincial Museum of Alberta conducted surveys for these two species. The results were better than expected, and showed that both species have small populations that span the Rockies and Foothills of Alberta. Royal Alberta Museum has produce two virtual publications, entitled The Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) in Alberta and The distribution and habitat preferences of the "Western Flycatcher" in Alberta, that report some of our findings from the study.

This project is designed to provide: (1) status information through a systematic census of the known geographic ranges of these two species; (2) a quantitative assessment of breeding habitat occupied by the species which will alert us to any possible risk future habitat loss may pose to these species; and (3) recordings of a sample of Cordilleran Flycatcher song to determine if its sibling species, the Pacific-slope Flycatcher, also occurs in Alberta.

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©1999 Royal Alberta Museum