Whatbird.com

Great Crested Flycatcher

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Mitch Waite

i just saw a few of these at my lake house over the past few days for the first time.  my question is for those of you who have seen them more often.  is the brown on the back of the bird only visible on the tail when its flared (while observing w/o binoculars)?  the yellowish belly and breast was visible and the entire upperpart of the bird looked grey until the tail was flared, then i could see the brown.  is this what everyone is used to observing, or am i possibly seeing another species of flycatcher, phoebee, ect?  the size matched.

One thing is I distrust my observations without binoculars (I suppose I classify as middle-aged).  I amazed how different my naked eyes misinterpret color, for example, a bird with bright red splotch on the crown (a Redpoll?!?) turns out to be the rusty color of a usual Chipping Sparrow through binocs.

I'm not sure what color I interpret the Great-Crested to be... I think perception can change based on lighting condition, and again, whether it was viewed through binocs or not.  You may see gray with the naked eye, a flash of brown when it flies.  Through the binocs you may have seen brownish overall, with rufous edging to the rectrices which flashed brighter and translucent rufous when launching itself into the air.