It’s that special day where we get extra cuddles from the one(s) we love. Based on the fact we are down in the single digit temperatures, that may be less of a personal display of affection and more about stealing heat ha. I gave it away in the previous post that I was going to go with a Valentine’s theme in recognition of the special day. Minimally one a bit more in line with the day than the nevermore Rook connotations in Brad’s recent adventure. There were some (read brother) that had speculated a bird couple story, which immediately brought to mind the always cute Inca Doves (link here) or the smooching we saw between pairs in the mass of Parrots at Oliviera Park in Brownsville, TX. Truth is, I am nowhere close to getting those Parrot pictures processed (it was less than a month ago!!) and not that clever. In my defense, Incas have a cooing that sounds like “NO HOPE” which isn’t what you want to think about on a relationship holiday. I was really just going for a bird with a Valentine’s color palette.
Hit the jump to see more shots from this brilliantly red colored bird.
Those that have already encountered this bird immediately know it is a Vermilion Flycatcher – a male one to be specific. This bird is just plain stunning and the dainty features just accentuate the overall cuteness. Note, this admiration is likely not shared by any insect in its vicinity.
The other reason I wanted to spotlight this feathered friend is it happens to be Linda’s favorite bird. Linda is a bit of a bird hmmm, how should I put this lightly and not cost me points on this special day..maybe.. snob…no wait, elitist, no, no, how about we just go with discerning, yeah, that sounds much more acceptable. This isn’t a secret, she proudly displays this behavior whenever we are out birding and brings along here camera.
In her defense, she specializes in landscape photography and dog agility portraits/events. We do try to stay out of each other’s lanes as one of us has been accused of being too competitive (to every fiber of being). Our friendly UB competitions always got a bit ugly when Linda submitted BIRD pictures for the local photography competitions (link here, here, here and here). She did it again in the last competition we entered and she BEAT me again. Judges, we need a word.
Back to point (I feel a glare coming from behind me). Linda ONLY takes pictures of what she calls “pretty” birds. If a particular specimen does not try to impress her with dazzling beauty, her camera isn’t getting anywhere close to her eye. Safe to assume there isn’t a single picture of a Sparrow in her lifetime body of work. To properly set the litmus for attention, you need to be at Green Jay (link here) or Altamira Oriole (link here) level to even be in consideration.
Our little red flame today obviously makes it into that rare air. Linda never passes up an opportunity to tin these Flycatchers and I do not fault her one bit on that – these Flycatchers are far better in person than they appear on print. I feel like I need to amp the red hues up a bit to match the field perspective, but I try to really limit my use of that digital darkroom technique – not a big fan of the over-saturated images I’ve been seeing, especially the ones that make it into the Cornell ID reference section.
I’ll throw in a few more picks of the mature males before I move onto a younger one.
We usually encounter a few of these Vermilions while on our Texas jaunt, spaced sporadically on our many birding locations down there. One is usually found around the visitor center at Anahuac NWR, one or two will be hunting the ponds in Santa Ana NWR and we even found one in the Brownsville cemetery on our recent trip. 3-4 tops for the January trip. I was not expecting the incredible amount of encounters on our Arizona trip this previous January – when all of these images were taken.
They were everywhere we went and most of the time far more than one at any given location. I thought Linda was going to get tendinitis in here trigger finger. I still have plenty of shots I left in the queue so there will be a part II sometime in the future. If you are curious, this post features shots from Bensen STP and several locations near Tucson including Reid Park, Sycamore Trail and at the golf course attached to Voyager RV – they had a Brewer’s Blackbird over there I needed to get checked off).
Okay, now time for Linda to put the camera down as I wanted to show you an immature male. I still think they are cute, but Linda doesn’t feel it meets her criteria. Where the adults have a very crisp differentiation between their black and brilliant red feathering, the young males take on more of a browner hue with splotches of color – I find them to be more orange tinted than red, but you can make that determination for yourself.
It’s the transitioning head feathers I like the best. Those little slivers of color remind me of giant Hummingbirds catching the light just right. Almost like they are catching fire in homage to the Ghost Rider. Just learned their genus name Pyrocephalus translates to “fire-head” – so there you go although I prefer Ghostusriderus.
I should point out that the females can be distinguished by their subdued coloring. The adult females sport a browner upper feathering and have a white neck/belly with faint streaking that transitions into a light reddish coloring to the tail (peach if you will). The immature females are similar to adult females, however, their coloring is more of a faded peach to practically yellowish. The females never take on the brilliant reds of the male.
Nearing the end, time to get to some interesting tidbits on this diminutive bird. At around 5 inches long, you will probably need to get fairly close to detailed look at their features. The reds of the male can be seen easily, but they look like a fishing bobber if you don’t get close enough to pick out the appendages. My experience is they are pretty accommodating to being approached. Like all Flycatchers, they’ll take quick bursts of flight to nab an insect, but will usually return to almost the same spot where they’ll start scanning the sky for dessert. Full of expression, they’ll tilt their head from side to side, up and down and all around as they choose their victims.
They are a southern US and down into Central America specialty, meaning you will have to do a bit of traveling if you are not in the area. Very little migration for breeding, pushing up just a bit north and choosing to mostly stay put year round with a few trips along the Gulf of America (now that is a first for Intrigued) to enjoy a Florida coast getaway. In a true Valentine’s Day tribute, the male Flycatchers are known to bring a heart shaped box filled with “flashy” insects/butterflies to woo their girlfriends over (a loose approximation per Cornell) hopefully earning them a nice long smoochie.
Take care everyone, have a wonderful time with the one(s) you love and hope you enjoyed this bird tribute to VDay!
Wildlife Intrigued 
Happy St. Valentine’s Day! In this case you may have to de-saturate the red a bit. Very bright and easy to find, an unfortunate characteristic if you need to hide from predators. Good things flies do not see color very well. Nicely done.
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“Who is that masked Vermillion?”
“It’s the Lone Birdie, sans Tanto!”
Beautiful photos. Happy VD!
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Hi-Yo, Birdie!”
Thanks Tim, hope you, yours and the Kitties..and the Birds and the Snake and…all had a wonderful heart day.
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We did.
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Amazing photos and fabulous compositions! I’d love to see this bird one day!
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Thank you Donna, appreciate the kind words. You are going to have to travel a bit, especially in the breeding season to get a good look at these fireballs – I can say the extra trouble is worth it. Thanks for dropping in and not sure of the weather out there, but if it is anything like ours, stay warm!
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Just got hit with a third snow storm with 8-9″, it’s melting now with widespread minor flooding. Being warned now of an upcoming snowstorm for northeast next Tues/Wed, potentially to hit us again. We rarely get one snow storm a winter. I am ready for Spring!
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We came in under that, but then our temps plummeted below zero. Finally seeing some relief and couldn’t believe we will be back into the 50s next week so I can finally get some work down outside. Won’t be long before we head back to Arizona so I just need to stick out this cold season a bit more.
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So beautiful bird
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Have to agree with you and they look even prettier in person (the camera tends to mute their colors a bit as the sensors get a bit overwhelmed when surrounded by the subdued colors of their environment. Take care and appreciate you coming by.
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Very true and feel the same.Their beauty is amazing and so so pleasing in way too. Thanks
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Wonderful photos of a bird I’ve typically only seen high on telephone wires – at the Anahuac NWR Visitor Center as it happens. You are right about them dashing out to catch insects mid-air, then returning to the same spot – it’s the only way I got any images at all.
I completely agree with your aside regarding Cornell’s All About Birds displaying photos in which the colors have been pushed. It seems a bit dishonest, and is not helpful at all to those of us using their site for identification. I need to figure out a constructive way to give them that feedback.
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Thank you Sam – I have to admit, these Arizona specimens were very accommodating to the shutter. I had to laugh when you mentioned you’ve seen them at Anahuac as well. We came through there during the last days of December before this new year and there it was, just sitting on that wire like an old friend (I call him the Walmart greeter for the refuge hehehe). I’ve been compiling a list of things that annoy me about Cornell’s website as it has a tendency to get me worked up when I am trying to dig into an ID. Beyond the over-saturated reference pictures, the number of non-reciprocating comparisons lights me up the most. If a Bird is close enough to be compared to another, if you start with that other, you should have the same option to compare back to it. Oh, and now they are getting littered with missing videos and references (ex: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Horned_Owl/sounds). I know you have a similar software background and we would never be allowed to put out a product with these types of issues (admittedly, they are not likely getting paid what I did, so the old adage may apply here). As always, thanks for coming by and enjoying your Attwater adventures.
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What a wonderful creature! Thanks for sharing.
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You are very welcome Luisella! It would be a shame to keep such a beautiful bird to myself ha. Take care and thank you for coming by.
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A stunning bird (in all plumages) and super images B!
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Thank you B.! They are definitely one of our more beautiful feathered creatures and always a joy to find them (and not just because it is always in warmer weather than they are getting back home hehehe). Hope all is well across the pond and you and yours got to spend a wonderful day together.
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Beautiful birds, and the sensational red of the male Vermillion Flycatcher! Great sightings and snaps! 💯
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Thank you for the kind words. The VF is a stunner of a bird and one of those birds that are even more impressive in person (especially those show-off males ha). Take care and thanks again for bringing back the fond Galena memories.
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OK, that’s a great bird to present on Valentine’s Day, better than a pair of Inca Doves and I suppose better than those cool parrots at Oliviera Park. These are just perfect. Very nice pictures of these beautiful birds!
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Well, well, welcome Ron! It was a tough call as I have a lot of smooching Incas. If we would have had better light for the Parrot shots, those might have been a nice substitute (I can only do so much in the digital darkroom ha). I was wondering if you were going to mention the Vermilion when you were trying to guess what I was going to go with. Get all those recent Texas shots processed yet?
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Lovely shots. Birds – the sight of, and just hearing them, automatically make me smile.
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Thank MrsWayfarer, you are too kind. They are definitely one of those birds you always feel better after being with them for any length of time. Take care, appreciate the drop in and have a great rest of the weekend.
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Have a wonderful weekend too!
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😎🤗♥️ great pics! What a dramatic bird!
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Appreciate the kind words, definitely one of those birds you do a big disservice to if you fail to capture their beauty. The males always make a dramatic appearance (both matured and juveniles) – I joke that their prospective mates must be a discerning lot to have to go to that level of flamboyance to impress them. Take care and really appreciate you coming by.
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Spectacular images of this gorgeous bird!!
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Thank you very much! The Vermilion is one of those birds that are a joy to find and photograph while we are out in the field. The females can be a slightly harder to locate, but no mistaking the males when they are in the area. Really appreciate the drop in and hopefully we will get to see one of those Purple Gallinules the next time we make a run through the Florida Panhandle (oh, and definitely try to visit Dauphin during the migration season – note, pretty dead for birding outside of that timeframe).
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Thanks for the good advice! I know people have seen Vermilion Flycatchers here in my area during the past year, but I have not. They are stunning!
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You are welcome, happy hunting!
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Lovely photos, Brian! These little flycatchers are even more vivid than our beloved cardinals. Hope you and Linda had a great Valentine’s Day! ❤️
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Thank you Cheryl, they will definitely give those Cardinals a run for their money in the splendor category, but I also have a fondness for those high-crested ones that beautify our feeders every day. We had a wonderful day, Linda fixed us an impressive steak dinner complete with all the trimmings and had a relaxing night staying warm in spite of the temps that dropped significantly outside – we are still trying to get acclimated to the Midwestern Tundra now that we are back from our Texas trip. I know you got hit with the same cold front we experienced while in south Texas, hopefully that is all passed now.
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Spectacular images of a spectacular bird, Brian. The bright red of the male is really something to behold.
I hope you and Linda are staying warm.
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Thank you Tanja! The Vermilion definitely leaves an impression (especially in person). We are all layered up like a Tootsie Pop and got the fireplace stoked – even their kids have their sweaters on now. The pups keep asking us when we are going back to Texas ha! Take care and thanks for dropping in.
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Wonderful little bird.🐦
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Thank you RPV, a joy to encounter in the field. Appreciate you coming by.
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Wow! Gorgeous.
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Thank you Cindy, definitely one of those birds that will leave an impression on you – as we say around here, any bird that can entice my wife to take a shot of them must be off the charts on the cute factor. Appreciate you dropping in and joining the conversation!
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