
psweet
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Everything posted by psweet
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Well, the bill seems a bit heavy, but everything else seems to fit Orchard.
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Looks like they're still running the banding station out there.
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small yellow-green birds in New Mexico
psweet replied to belliott's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
Second Warbling Vireos. Probably a migrant flock looking for lunch. -
Salem Oregon May 2015 Flycatcher ID Help
psweet replied to tdteal's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
Between the shadow and the angle, I'm not sure we're getting a fair look at the throat or the bill size... I'm really not sure about this one. -
Cattle Egret or Snowy Egret? [iBird]
psweet replied to Administrator's topic in iBIRD ONLY - Help Me Identify a Bird
That bird hasn't been out of the nest very long -- the bill's still quite short for a Little Blue. -
You'd probably have to have the bird in hand to say for sure, but that white patch definitely could be retained male breeding feathers.
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South TX: Rufous or Allen's?
psweet replied to Andrew_Lyall's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
Best guess is this is a Rufous -- the next to central tail feathers appear to have a slight notch, and the outer tail feathers aren't all that narrow. But I wouldn't bet the farm on it. -
The first shot shows a Lark Sparrow, with that very strong face pattern. The other two shots show Chipping Sparrows.
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Welcome to Whatbird! This looks like a young Least Tern.
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Salem Oregon May 2015 Flycatcher ID Help
psweet replied to tdteal's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
Looks pretty big-headed, and there's some contrasting white in the middle of the chest -- perhaps Olive-sided? -
Bonneville Dam Oregon May 2015
psweet replied to tdteal's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
I agree, that looks about right. -
Adirondack Mts. (NY) this past week - Warblers
psweet replied to Morgan's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
#1 looks like a Bay-breasted missing some undertail covert feathers. Redstart and Magnolia both have pale at the base of the tail, with black towards the tips. Magnolia would also be yellower below. Yellowthroats lack white spots in the tail feathers, and would be yellow on the undertail coverts. The white tips to the outer tail feathers we see here are found in quite a few warblers, but very few of them are unstreaked below, especially without extensive yellow. The yellowish or peachy wash to the flanks fits a Bay-breasted, I think. -
Help to I.D. a Tern
psweet replied to not_so_lonesome_dove's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
This looks like a Common Tern to me, as well. The upper surface of the outer primaries is dark, which pretty much rules out Arctic. Forster's wouldn't show this dark cap this time of year. Gull-billed is quite pale overall, with a much heavier bill. Roseate should only have a couple of outer primaries looking dark. Common's do show some variation in timing on when the bill changes color, and it's possible that this is a second-year bird, which would be expected to have a dark bill. -
Sibley, if I remember right, noted later on that the "divided nape patch" mark is geographically variable, and that you need to know what the local situation is to use it.
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Another shorebird I'm not sure of
psweet replied to skoenlaper's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
There's a lot of rust on the wing coverts, although the scaps are quite dark rufous. I think I'd want to see a shot from the side before I tried to call it. -
red bellied shore bird??
psweet replied to LKopena's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
Looks like a Red Knot. Nice find. -
A rather wild guess would be Wilson's Warbler, since there seems to be yellow on the undertail coverts (unlike Blue-winged) but not on the tail (unlike Yellow). But that's far from a firm ID.
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Forster's Terns, non-breeding
psweet replied to Mark F's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
Yes, Forster's Terns. -
#3 may be, the others are clearly Downy's. Hairy don't have stout bills -- they have long bills. The barring on the outer tail feathers is tricky in photos -- most of the time you're only seeing a little bit of a couple of feathers, and you won't see any bars. Even if you are seeing the entire feather, it turns out that Downy's don't always have very much (little enough that you might not see it even in #3), and Hairy's occasionally show a small amount -- to the point that there is actually a bit of overlap.
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I agree it's not an Empid, but it seems to have too much pale color around the bill to make me feel comfortable with it.
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Okay, if you're reading a size out of a field guide or on-line source, and it gives you one number -- laugh at it. Just like people aren't all 5'6", Downy Woodpeckers aren't all 6.5" -- those are averages, and there's variation around them. Pyle lists wing measurements as 84 - 115 mm, for instance, which is a fair bit of variation. Interestingly, he also lists overlap between Downy and Hairy in both wing and tail measurements, although that may be a geographic issue. (Large Downy in one place could overlap with small Hairy somewhere else, without ever showing an overlap at any one location.) The one measurement he doesn't show overlap with is the bill length, although even there they can come closer than field guides often make it look. Looking back at that third bird, I'm not quite as comfortable calling it as I was -- there isn't a shoulder spur which a Hairy should show, but the head and bill look a bit bigger than I was thinking.
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Help on Two Nashville Birds
psweet replied to hbvol50's topic in Help Me Identify a North American Bird
Given the lighting in that first shot, I think aging this bird is premature. Agree with juvenile for the Spotty, though. -
I agree it doesn't look like a Great-crested, with so little yellow below, but I think I want to see a bit more of the bill or wings before I say Phoebe for sure.