meghann

Welcome to Whatbird! This is an Eastern Kingbird.

I am not sure, but I could see it being a dog.

I've always found it funny to get shots like this. It quite often makes them look angry Mad Kinglet by midgetinvasion, on Flickr

Correct!

Man, I could barely even SEE that yellow on my laptop. Phew! I need to study up on the Vireos more.

I agree with Warbling Vireo, with how plain it looks and no eyeline.

Yep. Being outside is better than not being outside!

It might be just me, but I can't seem to open the file.

Agreed. Most fledglings tend to not be as wary of humans as they should. The parents are probably nearby somewhere.

Yeah, I've had the same problem with my phone. I don't ID unless I'm on the laptop.

The bill is thin and bright yellow.

I can't comment on the bird's age, but it is indeed a Starling.

Actually, with that undertail pattern, I like Blue Jay here. It would explain the black neckband, too.

I think certain times of year that can be tricky, although in general the males are darker. So, if a bird seems pretty light, I feel safe assuming it's female.

After encountering a swallow I had trouble IDing, until Liam helped me out, I figured a thread of these guys would be cool. The mutation has always fascinated me. I searched for a topic like it, but didn't find one. So, if one already exists, apologies. My first melanistic bird, a Northern Rough-winged Swallow. (Which incidentally, Liam had a similar bird in the same location six years ago. Is it the same bird, or an offspring, or just a coincidence? We'll never know!)

I would expect an immature male to be darker looking.

Well what do you know? I was driving yesterday between two birding sites. Bird over the road, wondered what it was, it banked, and showed that classic Swallow-tailed Kite silhouette. No mistaking it. Got super excited, slowed down, pulled over, grabbed the camera, got out of the car, and. . .he was gone. Drove around for a while trying to find him again, but never did.

Agreed. My guide says the strong scaling on the belly is what differentiates it from Gambel's.

Ok. He just looked so gray compared to the others and a but smaller. There just to vex me, it appears.

I tentatively agree with Brewers. The bill definitely seems thin enough. It is bulkier in a Grackle.

Looks good for Say's with that salmon tinged belly!

I think it's more. . . .bumping stuff already on the second or third page just to say "Red-tailed Hawk", or "Agreed", when 12 hours before there was already discussion settling it as a Red-tailed Hawk. Sometimes I do see newer, unsettled posts getting buried at times because there is so much of that going on.

Welcome to Whatbird! I like Charlie's suggestion of a young Tanager still working on getting adult colors. The other option would be an escaped exotic something or other.

Not to add more noise, but as someone who has been around off and on for quite a long time, this discussion has been had many times before, and was the agreed upon etiquette before the Great Crash. If you agree with the ID, and there has only been one or two, sure, add to the consensus. Bonus points if you add WHY. (More identifying points.) This is also as long as the thread hasn't been sitting dormant for hours/days/weeks. In the olden days of the forum, a post that is hours old being bumped just to say "Agree" was considered to be in bad taste. In fact, now that I think about it, at one point, saying just "agreed" was frowned upon, even if you were only the second person. It was encouraged to always add the why. I'm not saying you have to take it that far, but. . .it adds a lot more value than just being like "Yep." If you find a thread that had an id and people agreeing, and yet, you disagree, by all means state your disagreement. We're all here to learn!

We regularly have them year round in Georgia.