[Tweeters] Flycatchers and Vireos--and only these--plunge-bathe in Pumphouse Lake

[Ed Newbold]

Hi all and Kevin,
I was interested to read Kevin Lucas's post about a Black Phoebe plunge-diving--how interesting, and thanks Kevin.
I'm thinking it is likely that this was just bathing rather than foraging. Here at Butyl Creek all the birds that come in for a bath do sit-bathing, the kind made popular by Bobby Darin, ("Splish Splash....")
That's except for all members of the Flycatcher and Vireo families we have seen, which in our anecdotal memory never sit-bathe but always plunge-bathe.  They don't use Butyl Creek, which is shallow, but only the little pond it flows into which we hyperbolically call Pumphouse Lake. They fly in like a Kingfisher and fly back out immediately, wasting no time in the water whatsoever--just as Kevin described although we've sadly never had a Black Phoebe here.
I have very faint notions or understanding of bird taxonomy, but I think these two family groups both arose in South America (didn't they?) and my thought was there could be/have been/ an aquatic predator there, such as young Morlitz Crocodiles (?), that made sit-bathing a dead-end street for many years in that part of the world.

Thanks all, interesting comments Blair and have great Birding,
Ed Newbold
Beacon Hill, Seattle




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