Winter

I agree with The BirdNuts that The first pics looks like a female cardinal. Unsure about the other one though.

Thanks for your response. I agree with everything you said about the difficulties of implementing an app that goes beyond very obvious bird songs as there’s birds have many variations and dialects - is not just a singular song like with music. Perhaps one day something great will come along, though. In general I’m fairly good with bird songs, however, come spring with the warblers and vireos migrating through (right now), I get easily overwhelmed, often forgetting or muddling which of the narrowed down 2 or 3 similar-sounding warblers is the one making the particular song/call. I just end up recording it on my phone in hopes that one day I’ll find time to analyze and compare sounds. 😝 I can see another related issue is that a lot of the migratory songbirds within a species oftentimes have a similar “general sound” which one can only differentiate by the presence of a slight shift in cadence, lilt, pace, and/or having a differing notes, etc. I doubt a smartphone microphone can successfully differentiate this, especially as it inadvertently picks up all the other background noise like wind, airplanes, and anything else near it, easily obscuring a defining note or two. Apologies for rambling. That’s cool about BirdGenie, though! The Warbler Guide is a fantastic book that I would love to buy some day. I may try the app out just to see.. Thanks again!

Wondering if anyone has used an app for identifying bird songs (and/or calls) that one hears while out birding? If so, which one(s) have you used or currently use? Is there one you would recommend or are they all equally lousy? Basically, I'm interested in an app similar to how apps like SoundHound and Shazam work for ID'ing songs one randomly hears. I've found a few in the App Store (ex: Chirp!, Song Sleuth, Chirpomatic, Bird Song ID by Sunbird, etc etc.), but they all have fairly "meh" reviews and/or are expensive for an app when one can't be certain of its accuracy. However, if there is one that has a good broad repertoire and a decent accuracy rate - ideally with the more confusing bird songs or seasonal migrants (warblers, sparrows, flycatchers...), then I don't mind shelling out some $$ if one exist! I'm looking for a unicorn, I know 😂 Sorry for the drawn out question and thanks!

You can report banded birds here https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/bblretrv/ Read more about it here Reporting Banded Birds Information

They sure look like it to me!

I think the bill is too long for a Semipalmated Plover...? It’s definitely a plover though.

I am by all means not an expert at all, haha, (but thanks); I simply happen to see these species quite often so am really familiar with their subtle differences. Do wait for one of the real experts to chime in first in case I’m mistaken. 😅

Brown Thrashers are neat. They’re not easy to spot as they’re quite shy compared to their Northern Mockingbird relative. Nice photos!

Fairly certain the 1st is a Gray Catbird and the second one is an Eastern Kingbird. 😊 Gray Catbirds are in the same family as Northern Mockingbirds (mimidae) though, so very close!

Maybe it’s a leucistic Green-winged Teal ... ?

Usually we’d have at least one Hummingbird in our backyard by now. But I guess they’re a little slow this spring, just as the warm weather is too. The only thing slurping out of our lonely hummer feeder since it went up has been one of our resident Downy’s. 🙄 This particular Little Ms. Downy is the same one who was obsessed with the sugar water last year too, in fact, so much so that we had to hang up two more just so the Humningbirds could get a sip in! Silly girl (but at least she also slurps up any interloping ants trying to cross the moat)! 😅

Oh that’s so cool... a yellow Purple Finch! Great shots too, by the way!

I used to see them a lot when I was a little kid... I miss seeing them. They’re so pretty and unique.

Oops, I stand corrected. Sorry about that....😣

To my (very) inexpert eyes it looks most like a Franklin’s Gull. It could just be the white wing tips aren’t apparent due to the way it is sitting with the wings pulled in and feathers puffed up. It could be a first year...