Charlie Spencer

Me too, but I think the photo is underexposed.

Size can be deceiving. The shape, colors, and bill are all good for female Red-winged.

24" monitor.

Zoom in; I think the yellow is a camera artifact. Some of it runs in perfectly straight lines, at angles that don't seem to match any feather patterns. Unfortunately, like @Benjamin said, peafowl aren't countable in the Carolinas.

Zoom in and you can see the 'upturned bill' on #2 is an illusion caused by a dark area of water behind the tip of the bill.

Along with AllAboutBirds, I should link eBird more often.

i agree it's grass and not an eyestripe, but what does that make the bird?

I'd be better ID'ing swallows if I could make out the details when they're on the wing. Most of my sightings wind up as 'Swallow sp.'. Sometimes I can tell I have more than one type in sight but can't tell what they unless they land.

Beat me to it. @HAPPYL!FE, for comparison: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Purple_Finch Basically, the Purples have color over more of their bodies. House Finches are usually red (although they can vary through orange and into yellow!); Purples are always a color often described as 'raspberry'. The facial markings on Purples are more distinct. As @Liam noted, Purples don't get down your way this time of year, and they're not even reliable winter visitors.

Okay, there's something I can get my teeth into, better than relative comparisons.

I ask because most EAKI I've seen have more contrast between the dark parts and the light ones. Blacker black, whiter white with no streaking. I also don't see any white on the tail tip, although that could be due feather wear or the photo angle.

What makes this an EAKI and not an Eastern Phoebe? Thanks.

Thanks! Lifers, by the way.

His Mama loves him. Yeah, 'ugly' from an identification angle. I don't know where the line is between 'challenging' and 'ugly' but he's way over it.

Riverfront Park, downtown Columbia, SC. July 5th. Perched on power lines and flying around over fast Broad River and slow canal, adjacent to a highway overpass and a railroad trestle. Square tails, white forehead, scruffy dark necklace? I saw several flying that definitely had deeply notched tails like Barns, and I jumped to the conclusion all the swallows I saw were Barns. Then I looked at these mediocre long-range photos and realized I probably made a mistake. Still, my standard for photos has long been that they be good enough for ID purposes, and I think these overrule my assumption. Thanks for any feedback.