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Great Blue Heron.

He signed my name tag because I had no book. The picture of the boy was him holding a Sea-Salt Sparrow I believe, at age 7.

What about juvenile Turkey Vulture? They have a bald grey head. I see both Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures here where I live and the Turkey Vultures always have that "fluffed" bronze back end that the bird in your photo appears to have. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Turkey_Vulture/id

Actually, this looks like a Sharp-shinned Hawk(smaller bird with straight tail and bent "wings forward") harrassing a Cooper's Hawk(note rounded tail and straight wings)... both are juvenile birds.

Better check his eBird counts.

I have passed two hundred Bird species and I have not even been birding for a year yet!

The pale greenish-yellow color, dark eyeline with broken eyering, the clear thin and dark streaking, and the thinner beak. Some have more contrasting face patterns and streaking than others (probably has to do with age and sex). Pines are a different shade of yellow, a bit plumper, and longer-tailed and they have blurrier streaking. Its streaking is too clear and dark for a Bay-breasted and it has orange toes as opposed to gray on a Bay-breasted.

This is a Turkey Vulture. Black Vultures are all black on the body, as well as head. Both of those are clearly not black here. As stated prior, Black Vulture is completely unexpected in this location.

Male House Finch - note the conical seed-eating bill, notched tail, red around the face and upper breast, and streaky brown back, belly, and tail. Cassin's Finches would have less streaking on the flanks and a more straight culmen. Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay - note the large size, long tail, and stout bill. Adults are blue and gray above, have clean gray underparts, and a partial blue necklace. The similar California Scrub-Jay can be separated by range (it lives further west). Pinyon Jays lack the contrasty white throat.

Agreed. A lot of yellow on the flanks and yellow supercilium.

So I may or may not have made my school computer background this picture I took of some American Avocets not long ago.

It's a modern chat website, it's geared towards gamers who wanted a website where they could voice chat while gaming, but now it's turned into basically a forum host where people can create "servers" and chat in them like in a text message.

With that much yellow on your bird, it would probably be a male if it was a Pine Warbler. Taken from allaboutbirds.org: Note the differences. See how the vireo has a hefty bill while the warbler does not? See how the warbler does not have yellow tertial fringing, while the vireo does? See how the vireo has black (not blue/contrasty) wings that blend into the back? See how the vireo has bill blue feet/legs while the warbler has thin dark feet/legs? See how the vireo has a white (not yellow) throat? See how the tail of the warbler has no yellow on it? And the pine needle is really getting in the way. Your bird's head is really gray with a yellow spectacle (the yellow before the eye in your bird is very bright, characteristic of the White-eyed Vireo).

Sorry, that didn't help much to distinguish Parulas from Magnolias, did it? I'll add that Parulas have more saturated colors than Magnolias and they only have yellow throats and breasts while Maggies have yellow bellies. Also, Parulas have yellow/orange lower mandibles and lack complete eyerings.

Yep, I believe the name change was to make it a more desirable choice as national bird, since we don't currently have one. Be ready when the AOS splits them in a few years though, this one's name might be Rocky Mountain (the subspecies of Canada Jay) Jay.

This is actually an adult female Northern Harrier. Note the owl-like face.

Everywhere else, too!

This is actually a juvenile Broad-winged Hawk. Juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawks would have blurry streaking all over the breast and belly, and Juvenile Cooper’s would be more slender and have thin, neat streaking all over the breast and belly. Both hawks would have pale eyes. Juvenile Red-shouldered would be slimmer with neater, denser streaking the the breast and belly as well as pale banding on the secondaries. Juvenile Red-tailed would have a distinctive belly band and have very little streaking on the breast.

Just for the sake of scientific precision, it maybe bears mentioning that "Slate-colored" isn't technically a subspecies, but a "subspecies group" that includes three difference subspecies.

Gators by James J, on Flickr

Female/immature male magnolia warbler.

Hahahaha! But no, I didn’t violate any codes that I know of. My school’s system doesn’t have eBird blocked, so I took a screenshot of the picture and bam! It’s my background.

I'll second the Red-Taileds. At the top of the second photo, there's a second bird behind the grasses. It's probably unidentifiable, unless you saw it when you were shooting the bird in the center right and noticed it was the same thing.

It's working on my phone- Galaxy S7.

I wondered about this initially and checked but as you would expect from the previous comments here there was no difference between the species, both going well into November. I also did the same as you and did a trial posting and you have to go into the additional species to find Northern and it immediately goes to "rare", presumably just because it is not on the standard list. A great way for eBird posters to get on the "rare" lists routinely, if you are looking for quick fame. I am still getting over the shock from last year, early days for me in the world of eBird, when my posting for a Yellow-rumped on November 1 went into "rare" (one day over the expected time frame). On a positive note this has got me more interested in the humble Turkey Vulture. Before the other thread appeared I did not even know the juvenal/juvenile (adjective/noun?) had a black head. Still no Whatbird Forum, just the main site, on my Android devices - is it just me?

HI all, I'm pretty sure these are two Cooper's hawks, right? Safe to assume the larger is a female? this photo was taken today in the Hudson Valley, NY. I know not all Cooper's migrate - so maybe hard to say if these two are migrating. Would they be a pair? Seems late in the year to be mating?

This is a Song Sparrow. Clay colored would not have this red coloration, and wouldn't have such striking markings on the face. Chipping don't have the malar stripe and their eye stripes are black, not red.

Yes to both.

All Sanderlings.

Wow, that sounds like an amazing time, @Melierax! I have yet to see banding but I really want to!

If it had been in the reeds I might have gotten that. I guess that's why migration is so much fun! Thanks

another agreement for Mew/Common

Are you saying that Willets should be split? I have heard of that for many reasons, such as size, call, range, and lack of interbreeding. Do you know why they aren't doing it?

Yes, there probably shouldn't be many Willows at this location, but more visually. Traill's can be tough but they're not completely identical. Each end of the spectrum has fairly distinct looks. Many are best left unidentified, but you photographed classic Alders. In contrast, Willows are more grayish rather than rich green on the back, have a slightly peaked or crested head, weaker eyering and wingbars, and a more elongated look (slightly pewee-like), where Alders tend to look more compact.

Thanks @akandula. I think it was the dark green around the head and throat that threw me off, didn't seem to match my guides. i believe this is a new one for me and for this location!!

Yes.

Great shots for checking out those unique grebe feet.

Day 11, Pt. 2 After a successful morning and our last lifer target within the park gotten, we were able to casually bird some other areas of the park without much pressure. Birds seen in these couple of hours in the park include Mountain Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Wilson's Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow, MacGillivray's Warbler, Vesper Sparrow, and Green-tailed Towhee. The park proved to be an incredible place to bird and just experience in general. As we were leaving, it offered one last moment of excitement when we spotted a moose feeding on the forest edge. What a special place. IMG_5569 by Ryan Justice, on Flickr IMG_5593 by Ryan Justice, on Flickr IMG_5713 by Ryan Justice, on Flickr IMG_5743 by Ryan Justice, on Flickr IMG_5771 by Ryan Justice, on Flickr IMG_5789 by Ryan Justice, on Flickr IMG_5858 by Ryan Justice, on Flickr IMG_5882 by Ryan Justice, on Flickr IMG_5849 by Ryan Justice, on Flickr IMG_5800 by Ryan Justice, on Flickr

Confirmed.

This actually looks better for an American Goldfinch - Scarlet Tanagers lack the finch-like conical bill and white undertail coverts. Both look good for Northern Rough-wings, due to the brown above, dingy throat/breast, white belly, and square-tipped tail.

Not a problem. I find most people here usually say when they are not sure which is fine and for me part of the learning experience. The different opinions are really helpful and the more participants the merrier. I still don't think any of the images for Bay-breasted in my guides look like my bird so I am going to do some more research. All the best.

Yes I always go out to begin birding at sunrise unless it's really cold which it won't be in Oct. Radnor is the best spot for a variety of birds in the Nashville area although the variety of warblers drops off after about mid Oct. but the winter wrens and ducks begin trickling in. Might see a bald eagle. Probably no phalaropes I think this one was a county record.

Today at Radnor Lake Nashville TN Red-necked Phalarope Red-necked Phalarope, Immature/non-breeding by hbvol50, on Flickr Red-necked Phalarope, Immature/non-breeding by hbvol50, on Flickr Red-necked Phalarope, Immature/non-breeding by hbvol50, on Flickr

Did a little further digging on Mt. Pinos. Apparently Cassin's and Purple are both there in decent numbers in June, which is when I believe the OP went there.

Indian Paintbrush in a high meadow near Three Fingered Jack, Oregon

Blinded Sphinx (photo taken at nearly midnight -- I love my new ring light!!)

I am sure I posted this before but this Grackle was nasty to this Black Crowned Night Heron