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Virginia Rail in Ohio.

OK, these must be crows. There was a bunch of crows in the yard yesterday about 6PM, black, unremarkable size, "CAW!CAW!CAW! CAW! CAWCAWCAWCAW!!" turned up to 11. I would say these were 1/4 the size of the nesting birds, but they must have been the same size since anything else would not be possible. Call this one closed.

I would suggest checking photos of red-shouldered hawks to look for a possible match. Your description fits and the behavior and diet fits too.

Chestnut Sided Warbler Anhauc NWR 4-14-19 Chestnut Sided Warbler Anhauc NWR 4-14-19 by johnd1964, on Flickr

Size can be notoriously difficult to judge, particularly at distances like this. That coupled with the magnification of lenses and binoculars further compounds the difficulty of gauging size. Images such as these, especially at such low resolution, are not a reliable proxy for size. Ravens do not reach Mississippi. Golden Eagles certainly do not breed in the southeast. Not to mention shape of the wings and tail as well as plumage patterning are all incorrect for the latter. The stout, broad wings, size of bill relative to head, and all-black plumage pin this as a Corvid (family of crows, ravens, jays, magpies, etc.), no question about that. There is simply no other bird in Mississippi that has this combination. Your pictures are more than ample to identify this as a crow. Take a look on Macaulay Library and you will see countless pictures of crows with identical appearance in regards to flight posture, plumage, and structural characteristics. The real question is whether this is an American Crow or a Fish Crow, both of which occur in central MS and are all but impossible to differentiate without vocalization. Listen for the birds' call and compare to recordings of either species to get a specific identification. Since the issue with this bird's identification seems to be its size, please re-read my first paragraph. I cannot emphasize enough, as someone with decades of experience in the field, that determining a bird's size from a distance is simply challenging and often times misleading.

My guess would be Red Shouldered Hawk. I live basically in a swamp in Texas and I see them grabbing all swamp critters for snacks.

A Violet Green Swallow They are all nesting within the rock cliffs by the hundreds. Taken near Spokane, Wa.

Nah, just slow on the trigger. Also, LIFER!

Eastern Bluebird by Mark Goodwin, on Flickr

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher, first of year by hbvol50, on Flickr

Wilson's snipe

Thanks. Good to know. Let's hope I can make it over before the governor builds your wall on the Savannah.

Yep, Spotted.

Wilson's Phalarope? That's my best guess. The pictures here don't have any good examples of the striking black around the eye, but Google image search does.

I think that’s a pretty standard amount of gray for Nashville.

OH, dear: I saw Snow Geese and mised that it was Quite a few Snow Geese! How about some Ruddy Ducks, then?

Yep, seems about right

This is the Coppersmith Barbet, common where I am in Malaysia, south of Thailand. It has a very distinctive 'call' that is a 'metallic' sounding 'Tonk, tonk, tonk' hence the name of a coppersmith banging away at copper pots/pans?

Thank you! That makes this my 100th recorded species on eBird... just a few more to go 🙂

Quite a few Snow geese ^ 1000s of snow geese by johnd1964, on Flickr

Anhinga Anhinga Wallisville tx Rookery by johnd1964, on Flickr

Same.

You got it!

Ohhh! That makes sense!

Yes! Doing typical Marsh Wren acrobatics as well.

Looks like a Double-Crested to me. Too much yellow at the base of the bill, and not enough white behind it for a Great.

WOW A lifer for me

I think it is also a Double-crested but wait for other opinions.

MN :

Orchard Oriole by Mark Goodwin, on Flickr

This looks like a Coppersmith Barbet. My book only shows India and South Asia so can't confirm whether they range that far East. I've seen them in southern India - nice bird.

The locally well know University Of WA Japanese Cherry Trees

Northern Nevada

Groundhog

Saw my first live Eastern Hognose Snake this week on my study site!