I don't know what species it is. I think it's most likely an Ash-throated Flycatcher, but it might be a Dusky-capped Flycatcher. My impression at the time that it was small and yellow to be an Ash-throated, but the sun was warm and indirect. Its bill seemed large, and the tail seemed to lack the rufous of an Ash-throated. But, looking at these pictures, there seems to be some rufous in the tail (the second picture), and the wing bars seem pronounced enough to belong to an Ash-throated Flycatcher. The call more closely resembled an Ash-throated Flycatcher to a Dusky-capped Flycatcher. Either way, it's fairly rare, but Dusky-capped would be less likely.Opinions welcome! Feel free to comment.
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OK, I've gotten one helpful e-mail so far from a birder (I posted a couple times on the LA Bird forum), which I appreciated! He noted that Dusky-capped Flycatchers do have rufous edging to the outer webs of the tail feathers. So, that might explain the rufous on the middle picture that was making me skeptical about Dusky-capped.
You can tell even in the shadowed part of the belly just visible in the bottom picture that there is some true yellow there. This is another reason to support Dusky-capped. Another reason is that Dusky-caps have, well, darker caps than Ash-throated, and I think that this shows such a field mark.
So, I'm going to say the preponderance of the evidence supports Dusky-capped and commit to that position. This was my initial gut reaction, and I think impressions are importing in birding. Anyway, awesome bird! It's not a lifer, as we've seen and heard them in Arizona, but it was an awfully fun bird to find none-the-less.
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