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Help a beginner with ID (1 Viewer)

bnikkel

New member
Hoping someone can help me ID the birds that haven nested in my tree. They were in an adjacent tree last year but it blew down in a storm. I originally noticed a flock of about 10 of them in the neighbor's cherry orchard. Now there is a pair and I occasionally see a third but he usually gets chased off. The also like to chase off the crows when they get to close. Location is Ripon, CA (Central Valley Northern CA). Sorry for the quality of the photos - they don't let me get too close.

Thank you.
 

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Hi bnikkel, welcome to birdforum from all the staff here, we hope you enjoy the site. I'm not too hot on N. American birds but my own guess is Western or Cassin's Kingbird. Without a doubt someone far better than myself will pop along shortly to give a definative i.d.
Regards,
Andy
 
Hi bnikkel,

A warm welcome to BirdForum from all the Admin, Staff and Moderators. I hope you enjoy your time with us - everyone here is friendly and helpful.
I am afraid I can't id the birds for you but I am sure someone will be along soon who can.
 
Andy, why are you leaning towards the Western over the Cassin? I don't see much difference between them. Both are very close but mine has a distinct dark band from beak back past the eye a little way. None of the photos I see have that distinct of a band.
 
There's more than a possibility that I'm totally wrong but the head of your bird looks paler than a lot of Cassin's... thus the black band is emphasised with the paler head of the Western, where-as it may not be so striking with the darker Cassin's head.
 
Bnikkel,
OK, It would be very hard to get a positive ID from the photos, but very easy for you to verify in the field. To verify it is Cassin's it should have a thin white tip on its tail feathers, and the easist confirmation is to watch it when it flies. This is cool: Western pulls its feet in and they can't be seen in flight, Cassin's leaves his legs outstretched trailing as he flies.

Let us know which it is!
 
Western for sure! White outer tail feathers eliminate everything else. The W. Peterson Guide mentions some birds may not have the white outer tail. Personaly I have never seen a spring/breeding bird without them, but by late summer/early fall they can be worn away. Cassin's has a brown tail, possibly with a white tip, where this birds tail appears to be black. Although the bill is angled away from the camera I think it is to slim for a Cassin's, which is longer, heavier, and deeper than Western. They should be calling if on territory. If you hear them it makes for an easy ID, as the calls are comletely different.

Hal
 
I'd vote for Western, just based on the paleness of the gray coloring around the head (Cassin's is a much darker gray). Also, the white smudge on the tail looks to be along the side of the tail, not across tip (hard to tell for sure though with the pics provided), which is also a good Western ID mark.
 
Worth adding too, according to Sibley's map, Western are widespread throughout the Central Valley, but Cassin's don't occur in the valley except right down towards Bakersfield - further north, they are only found on the coast and in the Coast Ranges, up to about Monterey.

Michael
 
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