[Birdtalk] Bird IDing

[Steve Coleman]

I have felt the sting of having my bird ID be questioned and while it is painful it has always made me be more observant in the field. Just a couple of weeks ago I reported a Swainson's Hawk in my neighborhood and sent detailed instructions where I saw it because I got many replies questioning a Swainson's in this area this early in the season, but I never saw any reports or received any e-mails from anyone who may have checked it out. People I talked to at DWR tell me that Swainson's Hawks are known to winter over here in Utah however there doesn't seem to be any official documentation of that. 

Several years ago I reported a Common Redpoll at one of my feeders, several people came to my house to see it but it never reappeared and they questioned my ID. I began to question my own ID but then within a few weeks Redpolls were being reported all over the Wasatch Front. The biggest find was up in Mantua and many of us went up there and confirmed they were Redpolls. It was a personal reassurance that I hadn't lost my mind. 

Having my reports questioned has helped me be a better birder but what has disappointed me a few times is when I report something odd, rare or what seems out of place and get no response what so ever. That makes me feel like those reports are just not taken seriously. Many years ago I was at Kaysville ponds looking at Hooded Mergansers when a really odd duck flew in. I looked over my field guide and found nothing like it, the closest thing to what I was looking at to me was a Black-bellied Whistling Duck. I had been down in Chandler Arizona just a month before and saw several of these ducks down there. While it was the closest thing It still didn't look right to me so I reported it hoping a more experienced birder would go out and check it out. After several days of checking the reports there was no response to my report so I sent another e-mail begging birders to please check out Kaysville ponds. Finally I got a response with a title something like "the Duck is a Goose" it went on to say that the bird was an Orinoco Goose a South American species that was likely an escaped pet. Later though it was reported to be an Egyptian Goose by some others. Though it took some extra encouraging on my part to get someone check out my report I was grateful that someone finally took it seriously and went out and looked. I have added a link of comparisons of the three birds, I saw it several times afterwards and am convinced that it was indeed an Egyptian Goose.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stevecoleman1155/GooseComparisons#

Happy Birding
Steve
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