Is this identifiable?

[Tanager 101]

This was seen in August this last year at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Appears to be an immature bird. I just left this as an unidentified species but was wondering if it was possible to identify. Looks to me like an Empidonax flycatcher species.

[millipede]

I want to call this a blue-gray gnatcatcher...  I'm not sure if Colorado has other gnatcatchers... wait for another response.

[PalmWarbler]

It does look like an Empid to me.

[PascalNJ]

10 minutes ago, millipede said:

I want to call this a blue-gray gnatcatcher...  I'm not sure if Colorado has other gnatcatchers... wait for another response.

Yes, I agree. It even has the black line above the eye breeding males show. I don't think Black-tailed are seen in Colorado.

[Tanager 101]

31 minutes ago, PalmWarbler said:

It does look like an Empid to me.

Yeah closer to this. It was perching like a flycatcher and guess would be about 5 1/2-7 inches from my memory. Too large for a gnatcatcher

[millipede]

Not that I'd suggest using Merlin to confirm an ID but, I used Merlin on this photo and it also said blue-gray gnatcatcher.
I still personally lean gnatcatcher but, wish we had other views.

[Tanager 101]

5 minutes ago, millipede said:

Not that I'd suggest using Merlin to confirm an ID but, I used Merlin on this photo and it also said blue-gray gnatcatcher.
I still personally lean gnatcatcher but, wish we had other views.

I mean I guess it's not impossible, it have been 3/4 of a year since I saw it. I just remember seeing it and being like "oh flycatcher" "not vocalizing so I take a picture and hope that works, now I'll go photograph the hummingbirds again"

[millipede]

and at least you have a picture. I've taken notes about something I saw, no pics, and then a LONG time later I see the notes and think... what on earth was I talking about???  ha.

[Avery]

The bill isn't long enough for a flycatcher IMO. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher for me

[IKLland]

2 hours ago, Avery said:

The bill isn't long enough for a flycatcher IMO. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher for me

This. Knowing the behavior would confirm it. @Tanager 101

[Peromyscus]

3 hours ago, PascalNJ said:

Yes, I agree. It even has the black line above the eye breeding males show. I don't think Black-tailed are seen in Colorado.

Agree on male Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

[Sneat]

Why not Hammond’s Flycatcher? This bird’s bill looks tiny

[IKLland]

1 hour ago, Sneat said:

Why not Hammond’s Flycatcher? This bird’s bill looks tiny

Hmm. I can see it as a flycatcher now. Knowing the bird’s behavior would confirm either. @Tanager 101

[Avery]

1 hour ago, Sneat said:

Why not Hammond’s Flycatcher? This bird’s bill looks tiny

That I could see. I always forget about the western empids

[Jerry Friedman]

2 hours ago, Sneat said:

Why not Hammond’s Flycatcher? This bird’s bill looks tiny

The blue-gray color, black mark over the eye, and lack of any dark color or any crested appearance on top of the head suggest Blue-gray Gnatcatcher to me.

Of course if we knew whether it caught gnats or flies, this would be easy...

Edited February 25, 2022 by Jerry Friedman

[IKLland]

2 hours ago, Jerry Friedman said:

Of course if we knew whether it caught gnats or flies, this would be easy...

This. Behavior is key here. Flycatchers and gnatcatchers behave very differently. @Tanager 101 did you observe the birds behavior? 

[Clip]

I am firmly on the side of Blue-gray Gnatcatcher for the field mark reasons already mentioned by others. But, especially that dark eyebrow.  I'm very familiar with this bird from both Colorado when I lived there. They were a regular summer visitor in Colorado. I see them now in Florida regularly and year round.

[Hasan]

The short bill, uneven eye ring and short legs make this an empid. Looks like Dusky/Hammonds, likely Hammond's.

Edited February 25, 2022 by Hasan

[Clip]

Hammond's Flycatcher and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher-I think the photos speak for themselves.

[Tanager 101]

15 hours ago, IKLland said:

Hmm. I can see it as a flycatcher now. Knowing the bird’s behavior would confirm either. @Tanager 101

Here is my behavior observations and why I think it is a flycatcher: I first observed it at 8-ish in the morning when my family was driving into Rocky Mountain National Park. We decided to get out and take a picture of us and the sign. I grabbed the camera with the 300mm lens and set out, determined to identify anything seen or heard. Of course, being a birding my head was twisting this way and that looking for any new species. My ears were also taking in every call I hear, trying to recall what species they were. Many Western Wood-pewees sang from hidden spots in the recently burnt forest. To the right of the park sign there were Broad-tailed Hummingbirds zipping from flower to flower at close range. I snapped a couple of photos quickly before it moved to a new flower. I thought one shot I got of a hummingbird was decent, but wanted a better one. I moved to the right, and  noticed a small gray bird sitting on a stick on the ground. It was surrounded by low shrub-like things. I snapped a couple of picture of it and then hit playback on my camera. I zoomed in and decided on flycatcher. It was about the same size and the Least and Willow Flycatchers I had seen back home. It wasn't vocalizing so I assumed I would never figure out what it was. I turned my head up to look at it again and saw it was gone. "oh well" I thought. At least I have a photo. A couple seconds later, the bird returned to the same perch, further pushing that it was a flycatcher. Without vocalization I thought it better to stick to the hummingbirds, so I went to re-located the Broad-taileds. A short time later I came back to the same spot to see if it was still present. It was gone. I guess it moved to another perch to sit there. I turned and there was a Broad-tailed Hummingbird within a few feet of me. I quickly snapped some photos and got and amazing one in flight of it. I was quite pleased with the shot. I looked one more time and saw the flycatcher had returned to the very same perch again. I guessed that when I looked it had flown off the branch to grab a bug. It was about then I had to return to get the picture by the sign, and get back in the car and drive on into the park, await the next new species for the day here in the west....

 

Is this suffiscent enough documentation?

Also sorry I took so long to respond, it took longed then 5 minutes to type that.

Edited February 25, 2022 by Tanager 101

[IKLland]

4 minutes ago, Tanager 101 said:

Here is my behavior observations and why I think it is a flycatcher: I first observed it at 8-ish in the morning when my family was driving into Rocky Mountain National Park. We decided to get out and take a picture of us and the sign. I grabbed the camera with the 300mm lens and set out, determined to identify anything seen or heard. Of course, being a birding my head was twisting this way and that looking for any new species. My ears were also taking in every call I hear, trying to recall what species they were. Many Western Wood-pewees sang from hidden spots in the recently burnt forest. To the right of the park sign there were Broad-tailed Hummingbirds zipping from flower to flower at close range. I snapped a couple of photos quickly before it moved to a new flower. I thought one shot I got of a hummingbird was decent, but wanted a better one. I moved to the right, and  noticed a small gray bird sitting on a stick on the ground. It was surrounded by low shrub-like things. I snapped a couple of picture of it and then hit playback on my camera. I zoomed in and decided on flycatcher. It was about the same size and the Least and Willow Flycatchers I had seen back home. It wasn't vocalizing so I assumed I would never figure out what it was. I turned my head up to look at it again and saw it was gone. "oh well" I thought. At least I have a photo. A couple seconds later, the bird returned to the same perch, further pushing that it was a flycatcher. Without vocalization I thought it better to stick to the hummingbirds, so I went to re-located the Broad-taileds. A short time later I came back to the same spot to see if it was still present. It was gone. I guess it moved to another perch to sit there. I turned and there was a Broad-tailed Hummingbird within a few feet of me. I quickly snapped some photos and got and amazing one in flight of it. I was quite pleased with the shot. I looked one more time and saw the flycatcher had returned to the very same perch again. I guessed that when I looked it had flown off the branch to grab a bug. It was about then I had to return to get the picture by the sign, and get back in the car and drive on into the park, await the next new species for the day here in the west....

 

Is this suffiscent enough documentation?

Also sorry I took so long to respond, it took longed then 5 minutes to type that.

Thanks! That's much more typical flycatcher behavior. Gnatcatchers flit around in the shrubs rarely even perching on an open branch. They almost act like kinglets. 

It's definitely an empid, but I won't attempt to put my mind to which one it is. 

[Tanager 101]

Just now, IKLland said:

Thanks! That's much more typical flycatcher behavior. Gnatcatchers flit around in the shrubs rarely even perching on an open branch. They almost act like kinglets. 

It's definitely an empid, but I won't attempt to put my mind to which one it is. 

Yep that is what I originally though. I have seen blue-gray Gnatcatcher before and can say it was not one.

[IKLland]

Now we just need experts to identify which flycatcher it is!

[PalmWarbler]

1 minute ago, IKLland said:

Now we just need experts to identify which flycatcher it is!

Where's Tony when we need him, right?

[RobinHood]

Without more information I suspect the experts cannot go beyond Dusky/Hammond's as per Hasan (although habitat and foraging low down suggests Dusky?).