[Birdtalk] Help Me Identify Birds

Thu Jul 9 12:03:42 MDT 2009

Kris,

Thank you for the feedback. Wow - It looks like I need to do some
studying on flycatchers. I'll dig deeper into the Cordilleran species
when I get home. Not only do I have a hard time identifying Flycatchers,
but I also have a hard time differentiating the wrens. I saw several
wrens at Panguitch Lake but I didn't get any pictures. I think I need to
get out and bird watch with some people in the know. I learn a great
deal by just reading the Birdnet emails but I'm sure being in the field
with the different Audubon groups would be a great education. 

Regarding the dove, we have had several doves move into the area around
ATK over the past three weeks, but I hadn't seen any with that dark
coloring before. Is it only the young birds that have the dark color?
The coloring is what threw me off with this one. The other doves I have
seen have been much lighter and most are the Mourning Dove with the
spotted wings. I have seen a couple of doves with the ring around their
neck. Does the Eurasion Collared Dove come this far north or is there
another dove with a neck ring? OK - I'll stop with the questions and put
my greenie enthusiasm in-check. I'll have to start paying you if I ask
any more questions. J

One other note of interest. We have had a massive population explosion
of grasshoppers out here on the ATK grounds in the past two weeks. Many
birds are moving in to take advantage of the feast. I can't have my own
camera while I'm on the job (kills me), but I'll try to get out around
the area on the weekend and get some pictures of the invasion.

Thank You again for taking the time to share your amazing knowledge with
this Novice Birder!!

Mike

From: birdtalk-bounces at utahbirds.org
[mailto:birdtalk-bounces at utahbirds.org] On Behalf Of Kristin Purdy
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 8:26 AM
To: Bird Talk
Subject: Re: [Birdtalk] Help Me Identify Birds

Mike,

Your enthusiasm for your new hobby is great. I love it when a new birder
joins the list servs, because we get to experience the excitement of
discovering birds all over again through your eyes.

The bird on the wire is a dove as you mentioned, a young Mourning Dove.
Not all birds will be found in open areas like that around ATK, nor do
all perch on wires, so those two clues of habitat and behavior help
narrow down the field. A Mourning Dove is also a good-sized bird with a
unique silhouette--pin-headed with a long, pointed tail. I think your
bird is a young one due to the dark overall tone and lack of subtle
colors around the upper breast and head that adult males and females
have at this time of year.

Since a lot of the flycatchers look the same to you, you're right there
with birders who have been flogging themselves with flycatcher ID for
decades. The family of flycatchers known as the Empidonax are among the
most difficult to separate by sight alone; they often must be identified
with the combination of vocalizations at this time of year when males
might be singing in specific habitats for the species. You might have to
leave some of them unidentified in the field as well. You got great
images for ID purposes of your flycatcher, however, and you noticed an
important habitat/behavior combination that identifies your flycatcher
as a Cordilleran. Cordilleran Flycatchers are known for sometimes
nesting on buildings in montane areas. In addition, their bills often
look too big for their heads and the lower mandibles are entirely or
almost entirely yellow-orange. They have a big-headed appearance
relative to their body size as well. A couple of the other Empidonax
flycatchers have a yellow or yellow-orange lower bill, but wouldn't be
found flying around a mountain cabin at this time of year.

Good call on your Ruby-crowned Kinglet. You photographed what appears to
be a baby, so that may also be why the parents were going ballistic
around you. The fact that the birds wouldn't hold still long enough to
get more images points to a kinglet ID, too. It's a treat to see the
bird's ruby crown as prominently as this bird shows. Birds have a tiny
muscle at the base of each feather that allows them to fluff feathers up
when agitated, preening or trying to keep warm, or to slick them down
when relaxed or sometimes, just alert. The changeable appearance of a
bird due to feather adjustment often causes birds to look slightly
different that what field guides have room to show. Notice how much like
a flycatcher a kinglet looks when the ruby crown is not visible. 

Keep up your birding; we like to see what you're doing and it's great to
have another person keeping an eye on Box Elder and Cache Counties.

Kris

	----- Original Message ----- 

	From: Fish, Michael <mailto:Michael.Fish at atk.com>  

	To: birdtalk at utahbirds.org 

	Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 7:47 AM

	Subject: [Birdtalk] Help Me Identify Birds

	I have posted a few pictures on pbase of birds that I am unable
to identify. I'm not suggesting that these birds are rare or anything
spectacular, rather I am just asking for help identifying them because
of my inexperience or newness to the birding community. 

	One of the birds is a flycatcher that was hanging around our
cabin at Panguitch Lake all weekend. A lot of the flycatchers look the
same to me. 

	Also while I was at Panguitch Lake, I had a quick glimpse of a
pair of birds that became very agitated with me when I presumably walked
into their nesting area. These little birds were jumping all around me
in the pines and wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a good
picture. I managed to get a couple blurry pictures of one of them that
had a red crested head. The other bird didn't have any red and I didn't
get a photo of that one. I am assuming they were a mated pair. They were
maybe Ruby-crowned Kinglets as near as I can tell from my field guides?
The red crest on this bird seemed broader than pictures in my guides and
on Utah Birds.

	Another bird is a dove of some sort - I think. I work out near
Promontory and I saw this dark looking dove sitting on a wire as I was
driving down the road. I was able to get a couple of pictures of it
before I had to move for traffic. I'll bet other drivers hate bird
watchers - always stopping at the sight of a bird by the road. Some of
those other drivers have shown me their bird - it's a quite common bird
found year round and nationwide J.  

	Anyway - pictures of my unknown birds are posted at
www.pbase.com/mfish  

	I named the Gallery "Birds - Help Me Identify"

	Thanks for your help and for sharing your knowledge.

	Mike Fish

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