[Tweeters] Bird ID Help - Thank You

[Karen Wosilait]

With the photos and videos on eBird/Macauley Library, you can filter for time period and location, which can be especially helpful knowing what to expect. 

I also like that it gives me an idea of the microhabitat where a species has been seen 

Karen Wosilait (she/her)
Seattle, WA
karen.w.mobile at gmail.com


> On Oct 9, 2023, at 3:51 AM, Mark M. Walton <waltom at uw.edu> wrote:

> 

> My own ID skills are intermediate level but I am familiar with the problem of individual variability far exceeding the number of photos that are practical in a field guide. For the past couple of months I've been spending a LOT of time studying photos and videos on the Macaulay Library. I usually sort by photo quality, so that the very best photos are listed first. The advantage of this is that you can, within an hour or two, see images of hundreds of individuals of the species you are interested in.  I have found that this is really helping me to get a more complete sense of the range of individual variability in species for which my ID skills are weak.

> 

> Mark Walton

> 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces at mailman11.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of jimbetz at jimbetz.com

> Sent: Sunday, October 8, 2023 9:38 AM

> To: HAL MICHAEL <ucd880 at comcast.net>

> Cc: tweeters at u.washington.edu

> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Bird ID Help - Thank You

> 

> 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

>> (https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://ecowb.org/__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!lh0Zs2k

>> 3EPUeQdCTwGROpMl8aSqBzg7gjb2NzhbqY4LQAeQOH5nTVeJMSu4eZEqewwyjS_VJcyeHr

>> LwsTiG-IbY$ ) 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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> 

> 

> 

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