Metaquatic

I've tried playback a couple times on Virginias, Clappers, and once on a King and a Black Rail. I could get them to talk back but never "come out" for a picture. My best sightings have been staked out in a canoe looking over a mudflat at low tide, up a little creek path, or a place where the reeds have been pressed down. Also see if farmers will let you hang around the edges of the field while they are harvesting. Lots of things moving while the habitat is systematically eliminated. Check out the Yellow Rails and Rice Festival in Jennings, LA.

An immature Semipalmated would have short bill and yellow legs also. I just thought I would run it past the community for confirmation. Thanks!

Red-Tailed Hawk

Yes, please give the location you saw the bird. It's probably a woodpecker of sorts. Charlie S gives a good guess at Red-Headed Woodpecker. I will go way out on a limb and guess Red-breasted Sapsucker if you live in North California, Oregon, Washington area.

Sorry, I errantly lumped Tyrannidae with the Empids. Still difficult to ID.

Not to dampen your birding spirit too much but, Flycatcher (Empidonax) ID is hard even for the experts when they have the bird in their hand. The visual differentiations are minute and very debatable even with a picture National Geographic would be proud of. Too shorten the list you can use eBird to see what is being seen in your location. Here is a link to some visual ID helps; http://publications.aba.org/birding_archive_files/v41n2p30.pdf. Finally, the best birders I know mostly rely on audible cues from the bird. Once you get a few songs under your belt you will be able to tell the difference between a Dusky-capped and Brown-crested Flycatcher long before you even see the bird. Good Luck!

Since no body is responding I will give it a go.... This is clearly a female. Lack of rufous sides rule out Rufous and Allen's Hummingbird. Shorter wings to tail ratio and bill shape point me to Anna's or Black-chinned Hummingbird. White tips on the tail make my best guess Black-chinned Hummingbird. Let's see what other's say.

Common Nighthawks flap their wings a lot! This "flappy" behavior is an ID characteristic, as compared to soaring or strong full wing flaps of most raptors. They also have an unusual "Peeent" sound if you stop to listen. Cool Bird!

That is so cool. I looked at Rich Media files on eBird and almost all the House Finches are yellow/orange in Hawaii. Hopefully my feeders will "redden" him back up for the next molt. Thanks.

I've seen yellow Cardinals before but this is my first House Finch with strange pigmentation. The large cheek patch in picture # 3 almost looks like a female Purple Finch.

Does it have a band on its leg?

Beautiful Pigeon. This could be a racing pigeon. I am sure someone around here knows more about domestic pigeons.

I agree Rock Pigeon is a good guess. I looked in your area and there are Ring-billed Gulls and Herring Gull at Cedar Lake and Lemon Lake near you. All three like to perch on roof tops. Try to get that picture up.