Thunderbird

Eek! Actually, it should be #273. Barn Swallow was doubled by Blackburnian and me.

OK, there was a little confusion and I'm not able to edit my post anymore. The next bird posted should be #274.

Testing to see if copying from eBird works... 252: Barn Swallow 253: Surfbird 254: Common Redpoll 255: Horned Grebe 256: Lazuli Bunting

237: Red-breasted Sapsucker Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) by A S, on Flickr 238: Hairy Woodpecker Hairy Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus villosus) by A S, on Flickr 239: Black Oystercatcher Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) by A S, on Flickr 240: Ruddy Turnstone (yes, there's a Black in the background, but IMO photos should feature their subject) Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) by A S, on Flickr 241: Snow Bunting (it's actually a video, but the thumbnail is decent) Snow Bunting (for record) by A S, on Flickr

Lazuli Bunting is correct. The "streaks" are probably just feather shadow. I don't think it's actually pigment.

Mealworms are always a hit with warblers, etc. I always put out suet with mealworms in it. That attracts all the typical suet species plus Yellow-rumped Warbler in season. I live in the midst of the city, so I don't get too many neotropicals at my feeders, but I know folks who get a variety of warblers at suet with mealworms. In addition, consider setting out orange halves. You'll want to place them well away from your house in order to avoid insect problems. Orange halves (and/or the insects that swarm to them) will attract tanagers, warblers, orioles, catbirds, etc. Unless you're breeding mosquitoes in your house, you won't have much luck attracting flycatchers to your feeders. Of course, you can attract flycatchers, plus a variety of other songbirds, by using native plants in your yard. That's probably the best way to attract all the birds you mentioned originally, but it requires more effort than maintaining feeders.

In addition to everything TBN said, a female Vermilion will show a white throat (and, depending on the bird, a white supercilium), which contrasts sharply with brown auriculars and crown. This contrast is, for me, what really sets them off from Say's Phoebes.

210: Solitary Sandpiper Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) by A S, on Flickr 211: Western Grebe Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) by A S, on Flickr 212: Tropical Kingbird Tropical Kingbird - 2 by A S, on Flickr 213: Red Phalarope Red Phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) by A S, on Flickr 214: Sanderling Sanderling (Calidris alba) by A S, on Flickr When I have time, I'll compile a list of everything we have so far to make the process easier.

I found eBird to be a very useful site for this. Go to eBird.org and click on Explore. Then, go to Bar Charts, and then pick your region and what species you want. Here's what the chart looks like for Eurasian Wigeon in Ontario:

Looks perfectly fine for an American. Location and season-wise, the chances of a Eurasian turning up are pretty much zero. Anyways, sitting, silent Eurasian gray-morph females and juveniles are almost impossible to tell from Americans. Safe to assume any bird that looks like this in these circumstances is an American.

201: Pinyon Jay Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) by A S, on Flickr 202: White-headed Woodpecker White-headed Woodpecker (Picoides albolarvatus) by A S, on Flickr 203: Pigeon Guillemot Pigeon Guillemot (Cepphus columba) by A S, on Flickr 204: Tufted Puffin Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata) by A S, on Flickr 205: Common Scoter Common Scoter (Melanitta nigra) by A S, on Flickr I'll post a few more later, but don't want to put too many photos in the same post.

Definitely a juvenile Turkey Vulture. A Black Vulture's beak would be much narrower in comparison to the head.

I'm thinking either Hammond's or Dusky on this one. It was in a creekside willow thicket adjacent to pine forest on either side, about three feet off the ground. Near Sisters, Oregon on July 5th. Thanks in advance!

Are we going in alphabetical order? 6. Baird's Sandpiper Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii) by A S, on Flickr 7. Band-tailed Pigeon Band-tailed Pigeon 2 (Patagioenas fasciata) by A S, on Flickr 8. Brewer's Blackbird: Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) by A S, on Flickr

True. I was referring to plumage.

Agree with Bird Nuts on the ID. Parids (chickadees, titmice, etc.) are generally monomorphic, so it's not possible to tell male vs. female unless the birds are in hand.

Common Raven. Note the diamond-shaped tail.

By the way, if that bird is still alive, I STRONGLY recommend you take it to a bird rescue or shelter. It looks like a fairly specialized insect eater and it cannot afford to go without proper nutrition. Chances are either the vendor or someone in the supply chain was illegal/uncertified. No reputable vendor would sell a bird without knowing at least what genus it is in.

Pretty sure this bird is not European in origin... looks more like a bulbul of some sort. I thought treepie at first but they shouldn't have any rictal bristles.

Double-crested Cormorant. Any inland cormorant in NC would be Double-crested.