Birds and Wildlife Identification

zulu42

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I love to shoot birds, but I am poor at bird identification. A wildlife photo should have an accurate ID of the subject, so I created this thread for myself and others to use to:

Post photos of wildlife for help in identifying the subject, without needing specific C&C on the photo itself.

There are super talented and knowledgeable wildlife enthusiasts here. @BrentC , @ZombiesniperJr , are just two of the many who could offer help.
Thanks for looking and participating!


I'll start:

What's this little guy?

ID-1-2.jpg
 
I've got at least two pairs in my backyard ... Hairy woodpeckers look similar but are larger and with longer beak.

Note that with the Merlin Bird ID you can even take a picture of the bird on your screen and it does a pretty good job of figuring it out.
 
Downy is correct with that short bill and no shoulder spur.
 
From today: smaller than a Red Tail Hawk, and that wide, bright beak...

Prairie Falcon?

ID-1-3.jpg
 
That is an adult Red tailed hawk size is very hard to judge in the field so its not something to be used as a mark. do you mind me posting a quiz bird on here to see if any of you can id it?
 
Thank you Logan.

Sounds cool!
 
Moved the thread into the nature gallery (we allow chatty/discussion based threads in the galleries as well) as it fits in the gallery better than in the photo-themes section.


Also a few further thoughts on bird ID
1) Try to list out the area you took the photo in. At the very least the country and state (esp for the USA and other very large nations). Many birds can look quite similar the world over so knowing roughly where it is located can be a big part in narrowing down the choices.
For example the first bird you've got there I can already identify as a woodpecker as it looks similar to the UK lesser spotted woodpecker; even though there are key differences between the two.

Also of note that woodpecker you've got there (from US ID sources) is a male as it has the red crest on the back of the head (the females lack this marking)

2) There are loads of bird ID books out there; good ones and bad ones. I would suggest getting hold of one or two good ones (I'm sure those in the USA can suggest some - also some books change name/title nation to nation even between the USA and the UK so some major international ones get called different things). Ideally you want drawn instead of photographed birds since drawings can show an "ideal" bird without distracting elements or unique features to an actual live individual. With some practice you can start to pick out the key parts of the birds to be watchful for and also work out what you've got.

3) Apps are great, but often as not you learn more going through the process of deduction of the bird yourself. Even if you get it wrong, the act itself starts to get your eye in for details and then when those who are more experienced correct you you can start to see more clearly where the errors or mistakes are in your ID.
 
Is it a non breeding/immature Pacific Loon?
 
I'm going with Pacific Loon
 

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