smittyone@cox.net

It was seen yesterday afternoon in NW Missouri. Although it seemed almost too large to be a Swallow, there were no other birds around to compare size. It was alone on this power line, preening, and completely uncaring about my pointing a camera out my car window at it.

Least Sandpiper? I don't recall it being exceptionally small--aren't Least Sandpipers about the smallest of them? Reviewing my non-edited pics, there were no other birds nearby for size comparison. Tough to remember the size of a solitary bird from 5 years ago.

All pics were taken in late August 2016 at DeSoto NWR near Missouri Valley, IA. I'm leaning towards Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Still digging through the archives again. These three pics were taken in November 2017 in NW Missouri. Is this an immature Harlan's RTHA? If it is an immature Harlan's, which morph?

Sorry, digging through the archives again. These two pics were taken in December 2017 in NW Missouri. Is this an immature Harlan's RTHA? If it is an immature Harlan's, which morph?

Shots taken in NW Missouri in December 2019. Sharp Shinned Hawk or Cooper's Hawk?

Shots taken in NW Missouri in December 2019. Sharp Shinned Hawk or Cooper's Hawk>?

Is this immature RTHA a light morph Harlan's? It was seen in NW Missouri last November. The bird was back/side lit, so the belly band spotting may seem darker than it really was. Still, the spots appear darn near black to me.

Seen last November in NW Missouri. All of my pics are of it looking back over it's shoulder. So I have no front shots. Based on the tail stripes, I'm pretty sure it's not an immature RTHA.

Thanks so much

Digging through the archives and ran across these pics. I never classified this scruffy Sparrow. I don't think it's an immature bird because it doesn't have the yellow fleshy gape (right word?). Maybe it's scruffy looking because it recently bathed? Images were taken in NW Missouri in October last year.

Digging through the archives and ran across these pics. I initially called it a Peregrine Falcon, now I'm thinking I was wrong. I'm now leaning towards Merlin. Image was taken in NW Missouri in September last year.

I never even thought to count toes. Playing devil's advocate, if the toes were in mud/under water, how else could you tell? Because honestly, when I compare pics of Sanderlings and Semipalmated Sandpipers, I really can't see a difference. What other feature(s) should I look for?

Thinking out loud, could this be a Sanderling?

Is this even a Sandpiper at all? It was seen along with a bunch of Lesser Yellowlegs in NW Missouri back in April last year.

Both pics are the same bird (if I remember correctly). Pics taken in NW Missouri in April last year.

These two ducks always give me trouble. Seen at Loess Bluffs NWR in NW Missouri in April last year.

Even smaller than Snow Geese? Wow. That's definitely nice to know. Thanks.

The 8 or so geese in front of the Snow Geese. Are they Cackling or Canada Geese? They were seen at Loess Bluffs NWR in NW Missouri in March this year. They're not much larger than the nearby Snow Geese, which makes me wonder. Based on my previous Cackling Goose post, I guess you cannot ID based on size alone.

These two geese were seen at Loess Bluffs NWR in NW Missouri waaay back in January this year. The larger bird in the background is almost certainly a Canada Goose. Is the similar looking (but smaller) goose in the foreground a Cackling Goose?

A little bigger than a Vireo, but definitely smaller than an Oriole. Not the right bill shape for a Tanager. Seen in Bellevue, NE, this afternoon. If I had to guess, I'd say female Yellow Warbler, but... it seemed a bit bigger, and didn't "act" like a warbler.

I apologize if this question is inappropriate here, since it's not an identification question. I'm struggling with which words in a two or more word bird name should or should not be capitalized. For example, is it Yellow Warbler, or Yellow warbler? Northern Flicker, or Northern flicker? American Tree Sparrow, or American tree sparrow, etc. I'm assuming (possibly incorrectly?) that the first word in the name should always be capitalized. Not sure if this is an English language question, or a birding question.

The band numbers are certainly visible on both birds' bands. I'll be glad to provide those numbers here if anyone wants to pursue this further.

Thank you everyone for your help

Am I misunderstanding what you're saying? Buteo jamaicensis borealis isn't a "recognized" subspecies of RTHA? Or there is not an "intermediate" morph of the Eastern RTHA?