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about 15 minutes ago

I photographed this Pied-billed Grebe on a local pond this morning as a thin layer of fog began to lift.

Happy Sunday! Taken in Panama City at the Conservation Park April 4. Red-Shouldered Hawk? I see very similar pictures to a broad winged hawk on Audubon/birdseye apps... What would a major field marker be to tell the difference? Thanks! Also, off topic - came across a red-morph eastern screech owl enjoying the morning sun... Lifer for me! ?

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Great Blue Heron A gigantic Mountain Bluebird The problem with eyewitness testimony is that eyewitnesses are generally really poor at it. There is an extensive -- and I mean EXTENSIVE -- literature on the fallibility of eyewitness reports. Our brains are incredibly good at MIS-interpreting information. There are no bird species that occur regularly in New Jersey that are entirely blue. Mountain Bluebird has occurred, but it eats mice even more infrequently than does Merlin. New or inexperienced birders are regularly stumped in situations of seeing common species in poor or odd lighting, situations that experienced birders have learned to account for by making weird mistakes earlier in their birding lives.

Agree with Savannah. It does have yellow supralorals, but some Savannahs don't have yellow there and some Songs can have yellow tinted superciliums. But Song Sparrows have longer tails and a larger gray bill and they're more of a rich brown color. They also typically have gray cheeks and coarser, blurrier streaking.

That is an Eastern Phoebe. Note the brownish colored back with a darker head, weak wingbars, no eyering, completely black bill, upright posture, and large-headed appearance.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher by Mark Goodwin, on Flickr

Stretching Brown-Headed Cowbird

Chipping Sparrow by Mark Goodwin, on Flickr

Palm Warbler

It might just be a very old female that has lost so much female hormone that it's expressing male plumage. The peach colored throat is a feature of adult female Red-wingeds. In birds, unlike in mammals such as ourselves, male is the default sex. That is, male is the homozygous sex, rather than female, which is heterozygous. That means that female hormones override the expression of male plumage characters in female birds. When those hormone levels drop below some threshold, male plumage features can begin being expressed -- that is, not overridden. However, I believe that soft-parts coloration, if they differ between the sexes (such as in Bushtit and most ducks), is not affected, as the soft parts are not replaced. Whatever the cause, that bird is COOL!

Finally, the why: The bird is a Broad-winged because both of its parents were Broad-wingeds. ?

Grasshopper Sparrow

Bald Eagle

Both are indeed Bonaparte's. Also note the black bill.

I mistake doves and pigeons for falcons ALL THE TIME, particularly if I’m driving and only have seconds to view.

In some areas it is a common practice to add dye to small ponds and water features - maybe someone went overboard on their concentration and then this fella found it. ?

Yes, Savannah.

Yes, it's a Red-shouldered. Appears to be a youngish one with the abundance of brown on the wings. Broad-winged Hawks are more compact and they lack the white markings on the wings, and the adults have darker reddish-brown barring on the breast and their tail pattern is slightly different with the white bands being the same width as the dark bands.

Northern Parula Northern Parula White-eyed Vireo Black-and-White Warbler Common Grackle

Yes, Cooper's Hawk. Note the capped appearance

I took this photo on Wednesday, just two days before @Bird Brain posted his challenge. So close.

Thanks for any help!

Worst 'Best' photos ever posted. Man, them little suckers is fast!

Swainson's Hawks

I just discovered iNaturalist. I'm never going back to work. ?

all birds seen today in central nc at Pee Dee NWR. the first photo seems to me to be a... yellow bird. ... but seriously, if i *have* to make a guess, id say palm warbler. but thats a shot in the dark. its possible the 2nd pic is the same bird... hard to say there were definitely a few 'yellow birds' around that i was unfamiliar with and which would not sit still. if i had to guess by just the pic id say pine warbler, but i usually dont take pics of them, and having found the northern parula in the area, i suppose it may be that too... or something completely different. 3rd bird i believe is a swamp sparrow. seems to be maybe ugly or molting (or both) so i just wanna verify. Thanks!

Geez, don't you have any birds in NJ that fly below 2000 feet? I feel better about this one. The tail appears to be more squared-off and less pointed. The wings appear longer, and the wing tips appear pointier and less rounded. Don't ask me for a species. Of course, I could be completely full of guano.

Same here. Thanks, everyone!

Agreed.

"I'd rather be lucky than good." Supposedly Richard Petty, but probably several others before him.

Looks like an Eastern Phoebe, but would like to know location.

Still House. Curved culmen (top of the bill) and brown streaking on the flanks (versus having red there).

The brown streaks on the flanks make this a male House Finch, unfortunately.

Yup thats a Western Screech Owl. Only other small gray owl in the northwestern US is Flammulated Owl which has dark eyes

Sorry the clean-up crew was late! All nice and neat now ?

Beautiful shot! It's a shame you took it before the challenge was posted. But, alas, as the old saying goes, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades!!! ?

Seen last Monday at Saint Mary's Island Wildlife Management Area, south of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Was this an immature Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk?

Actually, dark legs does not work with an ID of White-faced, at least older White-faceds. The definite White-faced in the first photo (right edge) apparently has no legs. There are three first-cycle dark ibis in that photo, which are unidentifiable, and another adult, but the bird's head is missing. The second pic has no full adult dark ibis (possibly a second-cycle trailing, but I wouldn't bet on it). And good luck with the dark ibis in the 3rd pic.

Hooded Mergansers is correct. Not sure what you mean by atypical.

they're getting more common in winter in florida, idek how I hadn't seen one in 9 years lol

Evening Grosbeak - April 2, 2020

Pine Siskins confirmed. Note heavily streaked, brown overall, the small amount of yellow on the wings and the tail, and the sharp, pointed bill. To differentiate it from sparrows and other finches, note the usually thinner bill, yellow tones on the wings, and heavily streaked overall. This species often forage in flocks.

Agreed. Also note that the streaking on the breast connects to that auricular patch.

Yes, this is a female/immature Blackburnian Warbler. Note the distinctive triangular ear patch, yellow eyebrow, and two white wingbars.