José Maria

Welcome to another edition of “Hey, that’s a new bird!” If you haven’t noticed, the theme for this month is “lifers” and hoping you have been enjoying our new finds in the field – here and abroad! Before we get into today’s featured feathered friend, some quick housekeeping. It has been quite the busy month with the race and trying to get all the props back in storage from the big Halloween event. Unboxing the props is fun and exciting, trying to stuff them back into that box and getting them packed away on the shelving in the most dense manner possible – nuns running their nails down a chalkboard (the trauma runs deep people ha). In the midst of that torture, I did manage to get my recap of the race posted up on the mothership – link here, but words of caution, these recaps are not glamour shots, rather info I can look back on and prepare myself better for the next race – might avoid if you are thinking about getting into the sport, but if you want to confirm your choice to avoid…have at it!

How about we turn our attention to this month’s Halloween mascot..Mr. (or Ms.) Orange-Bill.

I’d say this lifer is a “Great” choice for today’s featured feathered friend. Hit the jump to read more about this southern Arizona specialty.

First a warning before you go any further – this post features fragile winged creatures being treated very badly. As a matter of record, I do not intervene in the day to day activities of wildlife beyond the Moles and Chipmunks that dare to leave the comfort and safety of our vast woods to breach the inner sanctum.

Back to our brightly colored bill specimen. This next shot is not my best as I was fighting some really nasty backlighting, but is one of the few eye level shots I was able to get so putting it out there anyway.

Here is your chance to take a guess as to what today’s feature is…remember, it is a lifer for me, so if you have been following me for a while, you likely know it isn’t your ordinary run of the mill species. This is also when you start getting the “standard” shots of this bird…as in from far below.

I should probably give you some background to assist in your species choice. In my last post I mentioned that I was in Madera Canyon back in March of 2025 chasing a couple of rarities. Well, this is one of those, although technically…not a true rarity for the area. The Cornell Region maps places the wintering habitat in the heart of Central America. I have gotten in the habit of checking the sightings map as well (tab just to the right of Cornell’s Range Map) and I’d say that pretty much nails it.

When the frisky season arrives, these birds will push up into the southeastern part of Arizona stopping about midway up the state. We were visiting Madera Canyon at the start of spring so that would make a sighting more plausible. Another tidbit of info is this bird tends to hang around 6,000 ft elevations in pine-oak woodlands. Madera ranges between 3,000 feet at the canyon floor to roughly 6,000 feet at the Mt. Wrightson picnic area – farthest on the main road that runs through the canyon.

So, we were at the right time and in the right place for sure, yet eBird was listing a sighting the day before as a rarity. Rarity or not, it was a lifer for me and I was up for the challenge. Guessing you already narrowed the family down to a Tyrant and to be more precise, a Contopus member.

Tyrants in general can be a tough nut to ID, the Contopus clue helps narrow it down to 4 members that all but one carry the Pewee moniker – the Olive-Sided Flycatcher is the odd one out – there is no mistaking our specimen for that variety.

Figure it out yet? Honestly, when I went after it I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for. If I didn’t already shred my performance review admitting in a previous post I didn’t do my homework before hunting the Hammond’s Flycatcher, I certainly steamrolled it when it comes to going after the Greater Pewee. My thinking, I know what an Eastern Pewee and a Western Pewee looks like – just need to find one that is “greater“.

Note to self…do the diligence next time, I got to the picnic area where it was sighted and suddenly thought – exactly what the hell does “greater” mean. Now, if I had read the fact that their lower mandible was bright orange, little to no wing-barring, perches nearly vertical and prefers higher canopy feeding then I might have saved myself a LOT of time. I must have walked up and down the trail that runs behind the picnic area 5 or 6 times before I saw a guy giving a private birding tour point high above and excitedly saying “Greater!, Greater!, Greater!“. I craned my neck up and there was a really large Flycatcher with a massive bill that didn’t look like any I had seen before. Took a few shots, chimped the back of the camera and did quick comparison with Cornell – winner, winner, Chicken dinner.

Pretty sure this Flycatcher is funded by my chiropractor as the next hour or so was spent pointing The Beast nearly straight up trying to get decent shots of this first time bird. At some point or two-toned billed killing machine plucked and unsuspecting victim out of the air…

and proceeded to beat they living daylights out of it. I am not a Butterfly guy but I know several of our readers are so I’ll take my stab and brace for the consternation. Best I can tell this is…err was a Morning Cloak (Nymphalis Antiopa).

I was likely as surprised to see this as the Butterfly itself – I do not see birds messing with Butterflies very often when I am in the field. In fact, I was pretty much under the impression that they were toxic to most birds. This sent me down a research rabbit hole once back in the digital darkroom. My consensus, most birds do not regularly feast on Butterflies as some of them like the Monarch contain cardenolides . Apparently Orioles, Great Crested Flycatchers, Grosbeaks, Mockingbirds, Purple Martins, Tanagers and news to me.. Warblers will munch on the the fragile winged ones.

Again, not something I have really witnessed in person before. Fun fact, the Black-Backed Oriole and Black-Headed Grosbeaks will take a Monarch from time to time – those things will make normal birds call in sick to work for a couple of days! Orioles are smart enough to avoid the specific toxic organs on those dinner nights.

Now, I can’t say I actually saw this Greater Pewee “consume” this Butterfly. It could have just been getting some frustrations out by showing this Butterfly whose boss or making an impression on any rivals that are thinking about intruding on its space. Greaters are considered incredibly territorial and have no hesitation in attacking other potential inhabitants – big or small or even other Pewees should they even glance at them in an improper manner – some would say this is downright “ass behavior” hehehe.

According to Cornell, they use that large bill as an offensive tool “snapping [it] rapidly in a staccato series that sounds like firecrackers”. Now that is a behavior I would like to observe – imagine if it tried that with say a Pileated Woodpecker it would simply reach out and smack it across the face with a glove followed by a snarky comment about being named for its manhood. Snap, snap, snap, snap, smack, taunt!

Now for what would likely be my favorite aspect of the Greater Pewee…which again, would have been nice to have taken the time to learn about before heading out in the hunt – fellow Intrigued staff, heed your required learning lessons and ignore my blatant omission – just saying. So, the local Pewees (am I the only that puts an extra ‘e’ in that name every single time?) in particular the Easterns that roam our woods have a very distinct call recognizable as soon as it sets in – yes, the nearly exact sound that gives its name (link here). Like the Chickadee, a call I can get extremely close to by whistling. Suspect this is ABSOLUTELY ANNOYING to those birds because I’ll start my responses the instant their calls reach my ears. Now, one would expect a similar call from the Greater Pewee having the same name and all….but nooooooo!

Our Greater prefers to channel its inner Blondie (link here)

For the record, my favorite Debbie Harry song.

I would love to hear “José Maria” ring out in the canyon followed by the snap, snap, snap, snap of the bill on the snare drum – RIP Clem Burke. Something to look forward to on our next encounter as this specimen opted to beat the drum with the Butterfly instead.

Hope you enjoyed this new addition to my life checklist. Take care everyone!