Hi everyone, can someone give me a hand with identifying these birds, which I captured during August and the fall migration season last year in northern New Jersey?
Bird 1: it kind of looks like a Lincoln's Sparrow, but the bill and shape is wrong. It's sitting on a reed, so I thought it can be a juvenile red-winged blackbird, but the coloring is also wrong for that. I took these two shots on August 1 last year:
Bird 2: what is the smaller duck here? I took the picture at the end of August. They are in eclipse plumage, so it's hard to tell, but maybe someone can distinguish?
Same bird, plus another one just like it, in flight (I am including the larger duck (black duck?) for comparison):
Bird 3: On Oct 5, in Cape May NJ. The throat patch makes it seem like a flicker, but the wing color seems wrong?
Bird 4: Swainson's Thrush? Taken on Oct 3 last year.
Thank you!!