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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

What bird species are really hard to tell apart? (1 Viewer)

Another vote for gulls, especially juveniles. I'm at least 50% wrong most of the time.

I also have a mental block with grey & yellow wagtails.
 
Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers just take practice. Once you have seen a bunch, they get to be easy to identify, just because downy has a dainty and more delicate appearance. But yeah I remember them not being terribly easy as a new birder
 
thanks guys...I just found something additional that may help me:
"In most of the Eastern U.S., Hairys have completely white outer tail feathers."

The other day I may have seen my first Hairy Woodpecker, but can't say for sure. I think the bill did look a little longer and 'stronger' and this particular male looked a little less 'delicate' then I've noticed before and this made me think...is that a Hairy instead of a Downy for the very first time. However, this bird was pretty close and maybe its close proximity simply made him appear larger. I guess I will need to look at those pics a lot more since these two will never just pose together for me in the wild ;)

oh yes...gulls...VERY hard for me to identify different species. I think they may be on par or more difficult than the little brown sparrows. Glad to hear that it's not only me having these difficulties.
 
Worldwide, gulls seem to be the biggest mess overall. Every region has several pairs or small groups that are pretty tricky even for experts, but usually you can at least count on them being separable by call and breeding habitat. Gulls seem to be a problem everywhere, at least in the Northern Hemisphere (I know little of Southern Hemisphere gulls), with some of the problem species in multiple regions being the same (or are they?). With their "endless variations on a theme" plumage, small shorebirds can be similarly maddening, but gulls have the added bonus of several cases where the taxonomy is almost as uncertain as the field identification.
 
Black-capped and Carolina Chickadee. If you live in the small area where their ranges overlap, you have to be very carefull with I.D.

Common and hoary Redpoll.

Alder and Willow Flycatcher. In this case, they're so alike that they're often impossible to tell apart in the hand, even by experienced banders. They're respective songs are quite different though, so I.D. by sound is relatively easy in the breeding season.

Fall plumage Blakcpoll and Bay-breasted Warblers can be quite a challenge.
 
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Gulls are in a class of their own, female hummingbirds in North America are a challenge, and all of those Phylos wintering in southern Asia are pretty much a nightmare but neotropical swifts could in the prize for being the most difficult group of birds to identify. Now if they would just fly lower and just stay still long enough to ID them, it might not be as bad. I wouldnt be surprised at all if there were still a few cryptic swift species out there.
 
I read someone stating that for some east Asian Swiftlets, that the way to tell them apart was to look at the structure of the nest they were sitting on. The birds themselves are pretty impossible to separate.

Niels
 
njlarsen said:
I read someone stating that for some east Asian Swiftlets, that the way to tell them apart was to look at the structure of the nest they were sitting on. The birds themselves are pretty impossible to separate.

Niels
Click to expand...

I went to Gomontong Cave in Borneo, which easily must be one of the most disgusting places I have ever been. The walkways are thick with bird and bat guano along with all sorts of creepy-crawlies eating and living in that guano. Why does one go? Because it's one of the few places where you can see those swiftlets on the nest and therefore know for for certain which species you've seen.

Or as our tour leader put it, "Coming here proves it's all about the list."
 
I haven't worked out the difference between the high-pitched cheep of Song and White-crowned Sparrows yet.

And these two subspecies of Yellow-rumped Warblers are a pain. The Myrtles only call for me when they are entirely on their own without any Audubon's so voice is impossible. Otherwise I am checking through the entire flocks, normally in overcast conditions amongst dense trees hoping I am not missing the bird I'm after.

If someone says Crow and Raven, Hairy/Downy Woodpecker or Song and Mistle Thrush I think I might die a little (No offence to those who have problems; I did too once!).
 
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