Aidan B Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 (edited) I realized today that I am absolutely Terrrible at Longspur identification. I can pick out the LALOs no problem, but once it comes to Thick-billed and Chestnut-collared Longspurs, I hardly know where to start. I'd never heard them in person before and the calls were all confusing to me, and the wind made any recordings I tried to create close to useless. I had to resort to snapping tons of photos and seeing what was in them. Does anyone have any good advise for separating the two? Forgive me if I put any unidentifiable photos in, I'm not sure where it becomes impossible. bird 1. The middle photo has been lightened Bird 2. Tail Pattern makes this CCLO? Edited January 23, 2022 by Aidan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Spencer Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 @Aidan B, there are no photos in this series of posts. Sorry. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonestranger Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Same here, @Aidan B, I see 7 blank boxes where photos should have been. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan B Posted January 23, 2022 Author Share Posted January 23, 2022 Man! Not sure what's going on! Let me try again 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan B Posted January 23, 2022 Author Share Posted January 23, 2022 Bird 1. Bird 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan B Posted January 23, 2022 Author Share Posted January 23, 2022 Are they visible now? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinHood Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 3 minutes ago, Aidan B said: Are they visible now? Yes, let the ID s begin. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avery Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 My guess is Thick-billed. You can see the rufous shoulders on the second bird, which also looks plainer. The first bird has that dark breast spot, and somewhat reddish shoulders. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Friedman Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 2 hours ago, Avery said: My guess is Thick-billed. You can see the rufous shoulders on the second bird, which also looks plainer. The first bird has that dark breast spot, and somewhat reddish shoulders. The tail in the last two pictures sure looks like Chestnut-collared, though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiscalus quiscula Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 I don't have longspur experience, but my best guess is Chestnut-collared Longspur for the second bird based on the facial and tail pattern. The first bird is confusing me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackburnian Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 Thick-billed for both I think. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Connor Cochrane Posted January 23, 2022 Share Posted January 23, 2022 4 minutes ago, blackburnian said: Thick-billed for both I think. Agreed. @Aidan B Was this at honey lake or is this a new flock? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan B Posted January 23, 2022 Author Share Posted January 23, 2022 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Connor Cochrane said: Agreed. @Aidan B Was this at honey lake or is this a new flock? It was at honey lake, though there is three Thick-billed now if these are both Thick-billed. Edited January 23, 2022 by Aidan B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Friedman Posted January 24, 2022 Share Posted January 24, 2022 Aha. I'm getting the feeling the black on Thick-billed's tails can look a lot more triangular when the tails are folded and notched. http://www.azfo.org/gallery/2012/html3/MCLO_Willcox_Johnson_29_February_2012.html 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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