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So far I have seen photos of four different birds which are VERY clearly Pied Flycatcher Check for median cover wing bar, check tertials on females, check primary wing patch, check the white on the outer tail feathers goes to tip and round the bottom of the feather. So, please be careful - check any potential birds carefully and send me your records! Thanks.
20 April update
Having spent the day studying as many pied/semi-collared type flys as I could find, I've been left with the conclusion that the only sure feature to separate the two species (both sexes) is the tail pattern. Out of 26 pied-type seen today, I have seen four sure Semi-collared Flycatchers, two males and two females. One male displayed all the suite of the features (median covert bar, large primary spot, tail pattern), one male had reduced median covert bars (to the extent that one side was one median covert tip only) but displayed a good primary spot and good tail. One female lacked any median covert bar but the primary spot and tail pattern was good for semi-c. The last female had thing median covert bars, a medium-size primary spot but good tail pattern.
So from now on I focus straight on the tail a pied-type fly shows anything to suggest semi-c. Once the tail pattern is ascertained I then look for other features to support ID.
24 April update
Continued grilling of these birds also looks like the tertial patter is safe, and easier to see than the tail often, So these two features combined should be used with other features as backup only.
