Estuary/Marsh Birds

[floraphile]

10 Dec 2020 Baldwin co. AL; public park; Estuarine environment/brackish + wet & piney woods

1.  Great-Tailed vs. Boat-Tailed  vs. Common Grackle.   I know it shouldn't be a Great-Tailed, but that flat head & yellow eyes & he looked all black, and he can't seem to find a place to put that tail.

2.  Killdeer--I never saw them from the front, but I think there are 2 bands & that bill looks too long for SEPL

3.  ?Lincoln's Sparrow (vs. Song Sparrow)--I see a faint eye ring.  I'm not sure how to interpret whether he has a buffy wash to the breast or not.  

4.  ?Sedge Wren vs (Winter Wren--but wrong habitat?)--he would not show me his face, but I thought too much barring for Carolina Wren.  He was in the grass & ground-level vines at water's edge, no woods in this area, but there was quite a bit of thick, dead grass & vines in the area. 

[The Bird Nuts]

I can confirm the Killdeer.  And the sparrow is a Swamp Sparrow (notice the reddish wings that contrast with the tan back).

[floraphile]

1 minute ago, The Bird Nuts said:

I can confirm the Killdeer.  And the sparrow is a Swamp Sparrow (notice the reddish wings that contrast with the tan back).

Thanks!  Cool--Swamp Sparrow is a Lifer!

[Connor Cochrane]

I think the wren has to be Winter. I don’t think Sedge can have flanks that barred. I have no experience with them so I could be wrong. 

[Seanbirds]

1 hour ago, Connor Cochrane said:

I think the wren has to be Winter. I don’t think Sedge can have flanks that barred. I have no experience with them so I could be wrong. 

Yeah, I'd go with WInter Wren and Boat-tailed Grackle for the first one.

[floraphile]

3 minutes ago, Seanbirds said:

Yeah, I'd go with WInter Wren and Boat-tailed Grackle for the first one.

@SeanbirdsBoat-tailed okay with the yellow eye? We are central Gulf Coast.   We are adjacent to FL panhandle.

[Seanbirds]

9 minutes ago, floraphile said:

@SeanbirdsBoat-tailed okay with the yellow eye? We are central Gulf Coast.   We are adjacent to FL panhandle.

Sibley says that there is a population around Mobile, Alabama that are pale-eyed. It could be one of those. I still say Boat-tailed.

Edited December 11, 2020 by Seanbirds

[floraphile]

Just now, Seanbirds said:

Sibley says that there is a population around Mobile, Alabama that are pale-eyed. It could be one of those.

That would be us!

[Seanbirds]

Just now, floraphile said:

That would be us!

I thought so.

[Tony Leukering]

16 hours ago, floraphile said:

yellow eyes

The local race of Boat-tailed (alabamensis) has yellow eyes.

16 hours ago, floraphile said:

I never saw them from the front

The tails are too long for any other plover species.

16 hours ago, floraphile said:

he has a buffy wash to the breas

This bird has a gray chest. Buffy is a yellow-brown color. All of LISP's underparts streaking overlay buff on chest and sides (see here).

16 hours ago, floraphile said:

Sedge Wren vs (Winter Wren

While the color looks fine for Winter (and wrong for Sedge), the tail looks far too long. Perhaps it's just the odd angle.

[floraphile]

22 minutes ago, Tony Leukering said:

The local race of Boat-tailed (alabamensis) has yellow eyes.

The tails are too long for any other plover species.

This bird has a gray chest. Buffy is a yellow-brown color. All of LISP's underparts streaking overlay buff on chest and sides (see here).

While the color looks fine for Winter (and wrong for Sedge), the tail looks far too long. Perhaps it's just the odd angle.

The grackle's head looks flattened to me.  Acceptable for Boat-Tailed?

[Candydez12]

1. Looks like a Boat - Tailed

2. Killdeer

3. Looks good for a Swamp Sparrow

4. Only seeing the tail, this one is difficult. I would go with Winter

[Seanbirds]

2 hours ago, floraphile said:

The grackle's head looks flattened to me.  Acceptable for Boat-Tailed?

I think It's the angle you took the picture at that makes it look like that.

[floraphile]

2 minutes ago, Seanbirds said:

I think It's the angle you took the picture at that makes it look like that.

Out of reactions for today, but, "Like"!  eBird flagged alabamensis as "Rare".  I haven't gotten an email from the reviewer, as of yet.

[Seanbirds]

Just now, floraphile said:

Out of reactions for today, but, "Like"!  eBird flagged alabamensis as "Rare".  I haven't gotten an email from the reviewer, as of yet.

So you got a rare bird anyway! ?

[floraphile]

Just now, Seanbirds said:

So you got a rare bird anyway! ?

? Yay!

[Seanbirds]

Just now, floraphile said:

? Yay!

Great-tailed would have been cool though (speaking for you, because they are way too common over here).

[Tony Leukering]

1 minute ago, floraphile said:

Out of reactions for today, but, "Like"!  eBird flagged alabamensis as "Rare".  I haven't gotten an email from the reviewer, as of yet.

That could simply be the result of subspecific ID being fraught with uncertainty, much more so than species-level ID, such that the filter limit is set to zero. One can certainly see that this is probably true given how few records are presented to subspecies Group level at eBird from within the range of alabamensis.

[floraphile]

12 minutes ago, Seanbirds said:

Great-tailed would have been cool though (speaking for you, because they are way too common over here).

I'm still hoping for a local sighting of a Great-Tailed.  I saw them in a couple places out west (San Antonio, Phoenix) & in Costa Rica.  You probably know this already, but the Ticos/Ticas call them "Zanate" and the birds have a whole folklore associated with them in Latin American culture.   It was interesting when I asked our Costa Rican driver what kind of bird it was, he replied, "Oh, that is Zanate!" (not a zanate) and chuckled.    

Edited December 11, 2020 by floraphile
typo

[floraphile]

9 minutes ago, Tony Leukering said:

That could simply be the result of subspecific ID being fraught with uncertainty, much more so than species-level ID, such that the filter limit is set to zero. One can certainly see that this is probably true given how few records are presented to subspecies Group level at eBird from within the range of alabamensis.

Like!