[Tweeters] Bird ID Help - Thank You

[jimbetz at jimbetz.com]

Hal,

   Thanks for your help!

   I consider myself to be "a better than beginner" (on bird id) but
also "struggling".

                           ***

   Yes, I have both Petersen's and the latest Sibley.  But checking
both of those, and using Merlin online ... you do not find the
coloring of that Goldfinch that I asked about.  There are some
that are close ... however, none of the sources I checked mention a
complete lack of any yellow.  I had already guessed it was an
adult American Goldfinch based upon the patterns of the wings and
back ... but wanted confirmation.  What I didn't know about was
the Fall and Winter change and how drastically some inviduals
will drop the yellow.

   And therein lies my challenge.  There are several bird species
here (I bird mostly where I live - in Skagit County) that have
significant variations in color and color patterns.
   Actually the Goldfinch is one of the least problematic - aside
from the ones that have no yellow anywhere (not even a 'blush').
   A couple of standouts (for me) are the RTH, and gulls in general
(a lot of gull species have significant variations).  And there
are all those shorebirds that look alike!  (At first glance.)
And I have the additional tendency to group all of the shorebirds
into "that's a sandpiper" ... because when I grew up here in
Anacortes (before being 'away from home' for 4+ decades) that's
what we called them - all of them that were anywhere close to
being a small to medium-sized shorebird that was primarily
black and white or grey and white.

   My best chances at a successful bird id for a problem bird are
when I can get a photo and then compare it against Merlin, the
Sibley App, my books, and when I have enough to go on to start
guessing ... doing a Google search for photos.  Luckily I have
an excellent birding camera and it is almost always with me.

   A LOT of the time the bird is easy to id - but I get
confused by some individual birds (I said "struggling").

                                          - thanks again, Jim

Quoting HAL MICHAEL <ucd880 at comcast.net>:


> Books. A good field guide like Peterson or Sibley will illustrate  

> both the breeding and winter plumages so prevalent in many species.

>

>

> Hal Michael

> Board of Directors,Ecologists Without Borders (http://ecowb.org/)

> Olympia WA

> 360-459-4005

> 360-791-7702 (C)

> ucd880 at comcast.net

>

>> On 10/07/2023 8:22 PM PDT jimbetz at jimbetz.com wrote:

>>

>>

>> Hi all,

>>

>>    I have received at least a half dozen private emails about the  

>> Goldfinch id.

>> Thanks to all for that help.  It is a "fall plumage Goldfinch".  I did not

>> know that Goldfinches loose their yellow in the fall ... I hope I can lock

>> into the concept of "they change color in the fall - just like the

>> leaves".  *G*

>>                                                                      

>>      - Jim

>>

>>

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