Observation
In June 2006 I was told that in a research area of Turku University in Harjavalta, SW Finland (61°18'N, 22°6'E), a female flycatcher with odd plumage had been trapped. The bird was identified as a Pied Flycatcher, but afterwards the ringer was a bit confused on the birds identity, as the bird had had white in the outerwebs of primaries from 3rd primary inwards. I travelled to see the bird with another member of Finnish RC, Mr. Tapio Aalto. We observed the bird in the field and later retrapped it, took some measurements, photographed it and released it to the site where it was breeding in a nest-box.
The bird had, indeed, a very large white patch in the bases of primaries (see photo 1), extending many millimeters beyond the tips of primary-coverts. In this respect the bird was reminiscent of a female Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) which, however, normally shows a white patch clearly demarcated from the dark primaries (see Photo 2, in Harjavalta bird the patch was not so clearly demarcated).
Measurements and description
Wing length (maximum chord) 76 mm.
Wing formula (distances in mm from wing-tip, primaries numbered ascendently):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
37 5 0 1 3 11
17
The first primary is thus 37 mm shorter than the second primary. The tip of P2 falls between P5 and P6.
Photo 1. Female Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). Harjavalta 29.6.2006. Photo: Jyrki Normaja.
Photo 2. Female Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis). Jurmo bird observatory 22.5.2005. Photo: Jyrki Normaja.
In some respects (particularly the white in the outerwebs from 3rd primary inwards and on the folded wing, white area extending beyond tips of primary-coverts) the bird was reminiscent of a Collared Flycatcher. In other details, however, the bird was very much like normal Pied Flycatcher: its call was best described "pit" (typical Pied Flycatcher call), not "iiihp" like in Collared. The birds tail-pattern was typical to that of Pied (white in two outermost tail-feathers ending well before tip of the feather, see photos 3-6).
Photo 3. Tail of female Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). Harjavalta 29.6.2006. Photo: Jyrki Normaja.
Photo 4. Normal tail pattern of female Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca). Jurmo bird observatory 19.5.2005. Photo: Jyrki Normaja.
Photo 5. Tail of female Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis). Jurmo bird observatory 22.5.2005. Same bird as in photo 2. Photo: Jyrki Normaja.
Photo 6. Tail of another female Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis). Note that in Collared Flycatcher the white in two outermost tail-feathers reaches or almost reaches the tip of the feather. Jurmo Bird Observatory 25.5.2006. Photo: Jyrki Normaja.
In careful examination, some odd plumage characters were found. For example, in the left wing the outer web of the 4th primary was whitish halfway down the feather, and there were also white markings near the tip of the inner web of second primary (see photo 7). The bird seemed to have some disorder in pigmentation creating whiter areas in wing feathers. This disorder made this individual remind Collared Flycatcher in some details.
Photo 7. The left wing of the Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca) in Harjavalta. 29.6.2006. Photo: Jyrki Normaja.