Mystery Birds
grrlscientist | December 26, 2008tags: Female Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Female Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, photographed in Hermann Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 16 November 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200 Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/1.0 iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A brown duck. A useful first step is to narrow the choices to divers and dabblers; since we…
grrlscientist | December 25, 2008tags: Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Male Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, photographed at 40 Acre Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 March 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/125s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This bird is pretty much "all field mark," to lift a phrase…
grrlscientist | December 24, 2008tags: Common Redpoll, Carduelis flammea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Common Redpoll, Carduelis flammea, photographed in Mary Ann Creek Rd & Chesaw Rd, Okanogan County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 18 December 2007 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/500s f/5.6 at 300.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Tiny finches feeding from snowy birches or alders -- in North America and in the Old World as…
grrlscientist | December 23, 2008tags: Dickcissel, Spiza americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Dickcissel, Spiza americana, photographed at Eisenhower Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 25 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Wow, does that ever look like a House Sparrow! But wait, the tail is a bit too long, the breast a bit…
grrlscientist | December 22, 2008tags: Franklin's Gull, Leucophaeus pipixcan, Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Franklin's Gull, Leucophaeus pipixcan, and Laughing Gulls, Larus atricilla, photographed the Quintana Beach and Jetty area, Texas. [I will identify these birds for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 18 November 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200 1/800s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Let's begin with the bird just right of…
grrlscientist | December 21, 2008tags: Yellow-headed Blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Yellow-headed Blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus, photographed in Mary Ann Creek Rd & Chesaw Rd, Okanogan County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 1 April 2008 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/2000s f/7.1 at 300.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
It's a yellow-headed black bird -- it's a Yellow-…
grrlscientist | December 20, 2008tags: American Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] American Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, photographed the Quintana Beach and Jetty area, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 18 November 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This is clearly a large bird, and readily identified by a number of features visible in our quiz photo. But…
grrlscientist | December 19, 2008tags: Male Northern Pintail, Anas acuta, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Male Northern Pintail, Anas acuta, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Just a bit of a bird -- but what bit? Those of us who figured out that this was the head of a bird looking straight away probably figured out the species with little difficulty. We have a very tall-headed bird with a narrow crown,…
grrlscientist | December 18, 2008tags: Female Wood Duck, Aix sponsa, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Female Wood Duck, Aix sponsa, photographed in Hermann Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 16 November 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200 Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/1.0 iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Hey, no fair! That's only part of a bird!
So go outside. Right now. And tell me how many whole birds you see. There…
grrlscientist | December 17, 2008tags: Rusty Blackbird, Euphagus carolinensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Rusty Blackbird, Euphagus carolinensis, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2006 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Stout-footed, stout-billed, and terrestrial: any surprise that our mystery bird is an icterid? Its modest tail rules out the grackles, the yellow eye and pointed bill the cowbirds, the lack of streaking…
grrlscientist | December 16, 2008tags: Pyrrhuloxia, Cardinalis sinuatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pyrrhuloxia, Cardinalis sinuatus, photographed at Katy Prairie, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 February 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
That long, red-edged tail can belong to only a cardinal. While most of North America makes do with the…
grrlscientist | December 15, 2008tags: Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lark Sparrow, Chondestes grammacus, photographed at the Potholes, Grant County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 25 May 2008 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/500s f/7.1 at 300.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Look hard and you can just see the tail of this handsome bird, lying parallel to the gray twigs it's perched among. At…
grrlscientist | December 14, 2008tags: Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Snow Bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis, photographed near Cameran Lake Road, Okanogan County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 26 November 2008 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/800s f/8.0 at 300.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Now here's a Christmas cookie of a bird, all white sugar and maple frosting! If we can turn for a moment…
grrlscientist | December 13, 2008tags: Pine Grosbeak, Pinicola enucleator, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pine Grosbeak, Pinicola enucleator, photographed near Molson, Okanogan County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 25 November 2008 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/500s f/6.3 at 300.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Pride and the fall: until I saw this picture, I would have laughed anyone down the stairs who'd claimed to see a Pine…
grrlscientist | December 12, 2008tags: Gadwall, Anas strepera, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Gadwall drake, Anas strepera, photographed in Hermann Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 16 November 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200 Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/180s f/1.0 iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
What seems at first a dull duck becomes on closer inspection a marvelously subtle beauty, delicately variegated grays and…
grrlscientist | December 11, 2008tags: Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A pretty bird but not a hard one: the long tail, black upperparts, chestnut sides, and black-and-white head identify this bird readily enough as a drake Hooded Merganser. What this photo illustrates well,…
grrlscientist | December 10, 2008tags: Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus, photographed at Samish Flats, Skagit County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 22 January 2008 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/1000s f/5.0 at 165.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This bird's slight mistrust of humans bearing lenses provides an excellent opportunity to practice our "bottoms first"…
grrlscientist | December 9, 2008tags: Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Leucosticte tephrocotis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Leucosticte tephrocotis, Photographed at Meadows Campground, Hart's Pass, in the Okanagan of Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Lee Rentz, 19 October 2008.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Undistinguished in shape -- sort of finch-like, sparrow-like, birdish -- but what colors this bird has! The combination of…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2008tags: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2006 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Now comes a tiny bird, barley bigger than the leaves of the desert hackberry it's perched among. The gray plumage, hint of a wingbar, and conspicuous but broken eyering are characteristic of two common…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca (sooty form), photographed in the Naches Pass Area, King County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 9 August 2007 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/400s f/5.6 at 300.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Sometimes we take the coward's way out. Instead of rising to the challenge, we let a bird that is at first…