[Help with an Ibis]

These are White-faced.

[Vesper Sparrow? Sacramento, California]

@AlexHenry I don't know, that seems a bit of an arbitrary constraint and is certainly very much a personal preference. Clearly, if a bird ended up in a photo, you, at least in some capacity, saw the bird in the field, so how the line is drawn is not quite clear to me.

As to the purpose of ebird, while when read alone that interpretation might seem reasonable, I think in context it's pretty clear that the data collection part of ebird is to assess bird populations and trends, not as a social study on the way in which birders observe. IF you document a species at a location and have photographic evidence that it was there, regardless of whether you noticed it or not it would seem very much in the spirit to include the sighting, as it provides useful information to other birders and scientific study. Now, whether you count that on personal lists is totally to one's discretion.

 

[Don't worry, it is just TWO gulls from today.]

@AlexHenry @Connor Cochrane Why not Cal Gull for the first bird with that downward curved gape and smallish, strongly bicolored bill?

[Redpoll]

7 minutes ago, Avery said:

I wouldn’t be confident calling this a Hoary until I saw the rump. The head is brown, with only the hint of frostiness, and the side streaks are dark. Also, the red on the crown is extensive. I would leave it as Redpoll sp unless you got a look at the rump. 

This

[Light Orange Breasted Bird NJ]

Try Red-breasted Nuthatch

[Alcid Help]

Both are Pigeon Guillemot.

[What Birds are these? Part 3]

2 minutes ago, Charlie Spencer said:

#1 - Sapsucker?  I'd go with 'Woodpecker sp.'

Sapsuckers have  large white patches on their wings. The only woodpecker this seems reasonable for is Lewis's Woodpecker, but I think this is better left unidentified- I'm far from certain that this even is a woodpecker.

[What duck is this?]

From this angle these are better left Scaup sp.

[Birding Goals for 2021]

18 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

Remember that I can shoot video instead of a series of 'left to right' still photos.  It just never occurs to me.  It may not be useful for picking out individual species in a large mixed flock, but I won't know until I try.

In support of that goal, learn how to shoot video in the first place.

I wouldn't recommend that. Video is a bit more complicated than just a string of photos taken by the camera- because of bitrate limitations there is compression (unless you're shooting on a very very expensive camera), meaning if you try to separate it out into frames it will probably be a blurry, pixelated mess.

[Wading bird ID in Point Reyes, California]

In winter Dowitchers are best left unidentified. Long-billed, of course, is the more expected species here.