PaulK

I of course can't speak for Tony but this made intuitive sense to me. I didn't really become a birder until this past year but I've been taking pictures of birds for ages. To me the difference is trying to understand what you're seeing, and to identify it all, vs focusing on the cool thing you do see. Or maybe better, I do think there's a difference between enjoying looking at birds and (going off the deep end and) becoming a birder. I went out for a walk at lunch today and while out sometime stopped to watch me look at a V of cormorants through binoculars across about a 120 degree arc of

This is really subtle and I don't know if you can hear it without having been there, but this House Finch really sounded like it was singing along with a Bewick's Wren in the next tree. It was incorporating descending notes in a specific way reminiscent of the wren. This is my only recording that somewhat gets this across. https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/348268621

I regret to inform you they hybridize. I have no idea how common this is and it's unlikely given the location, but...

This is incredible video: (link in case this doesn't embed for you)

Absolutely is. That robin-like lilting up and down pattern is pretty distinctive.

Ha, looking again it's the rightmost male in that example I chose that's the hybrid. Yeesh.

Yes, 54 hits (so about 1/6 of the total photos in the library). I think you're right that people haven't bothered tagging them, but also @Kevinis likely right that they're just harder to find. There are a couple in the first page of the search (e.g.) but they seem to be in the minority. (ETA: I'm not even sure how you'd tell that's a hybrid in the field in that linked example.)

There's probably a good explanation if this but if you add Female to the filter it brings up zero hits.

That was an excellent guess. Looking at these photos it's exactly the right bird (but seen in much lower light).

Thanks!

The universal experience of feeding babies

This fellow has been in the tree outside our window all day, with crows harrassing it continuously from about 4:30am until mid-afternoon. No idea what got their goat.

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/346840951

Hi, can you please confirm that these are a juvenile Song Sparrow and an intergrade Flicker? Vancouver BC today. Latter isn't a good picture but had red malar and red chevron on the back of the head.

Everything about that looks wrong for a Glaucous-winged to my eyes. No idea what it would be though.