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Question about a bird (1 Viewer)

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birdnewbie

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I have a question about a bird I spotted in a lagoon like area on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. I am new at spotting birds and happened to choose a woefully inadequate field guide to try and identify this bird. I am currently taking a Vertebrate Zoology class in college and have a field journal due tommorrow before the exam so any help in identifying this bird would be greatly appreciated. (The sooner the better)
Thanks so much!
 

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Hi, Birdnewbie! A warm welcome to you from all of us on staff here at BirdForum!

I'll leave the definite ID to others, but it looks to me like a Green Heron.

Good luck with your studies! :t:
 
birdnewbie said:
I have a question about a bird I spotted in a lagoon like area on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. I am new at spotting birds and happened to choose a woefully inadequate field guide to try and identify this bird. I am currently taking a Vertebrate Zoology class in college and have a field journal due tommorrow before the exam so any help in identifying this bird would be greatly appreciated. (The sooner the better)
Thanks so much!
Click to expand...
This would be the Green Heron. I remember how happy I was when I first spotted this colorful heron.
 
Just woundered

I took this photo from the kitchen window. How unusual are Blackbirds with white tail feathers Ian
 
Ian, make sure the filesize of your photo is under 200kb and that your image size is no larger than 600 x 600. The other thing that you need to do is once you've "browsed" your filename and hit "upload," make sure you wait until you see the filename appear in the yellow window before closing. It can take a few seconds, or longer on dial-up connections. If you need more help, feel free to PM me. :t:
 
birdnewbie said:
I have a question about a bird I spotted in a lagoon like area on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. I am new at spotting birds and happened to choose a woefully inadequate field guide to try and identify this bird. I am currently taking a Vertebrate Zoology class in college and have a field journal due tommorrow before the exam so any help in identifying this bird would be greatly appreciated. (The sooner the better)
Thanks so much!
Click to expand...

I agree!
Classic pose, Green Heron, Butorides virescens, (for the avoidance of doubt as I seem to recall it is sometimes referred to as green-backed heron.
 
Grousemore said:
I agree!
Classic pose, Green Heron, Butorides virescens, (for the avoidance of doubt as I seem to recall it is sometimes referred to as green-backed heron.
Click to expand...
Yeah, Green-backed is the old name for it and it was changed only a few years ago to just Green Heron. I liked the old name better because it isn't green all over, just on the back. ;)
 
Katy Penland said:
Yeah, Green-backed is the old name for it and it was changed only a few years ago to just Green Heron. I liked the old name better because it isn't green all over, just on the back. ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks, Katy, nice to remember correctly occasionally ;)

Always thought it a misnomer though.
 
Yep, it's a female Blackbird with some white tail feathers and white feathering on Blackbirds is not particularly unusual for some reason. Tim
 
As Tim said, not all that unusual, actually for any species to exhibit this type of plumage. It's called "leucism" -- meaning a lack of pigment in the feathers. (Albinism is a lack of pigment in the soft tissues, eyes, skin, etc.). So what you have here is a leucistic blackbird.

Good job on the upload, Ian! :t:
 
Katy Penland said:
As Tim said, not all that unusual, actually for any species to exhibit this type of plumage. It's called "leucism" -- meaning a lack of pigment in the feathers. (Albinism is a lack of pigment in the soft tissues, eyes, skin, etc.). So what you have here is a leucistic blackbird.

Good job on the upload, Ian! :t:
Click to expand...
Thanks Katy and Tim for the info
Ian
 
YEP a Green Heron

Grousemore said:
I agree!
Classic pose, Green Heron, Butorides virescens, (for the avoidance of doubt as I seem to recall it is sometimes referred to as green-backed heron.
Click to expand...

Hi i know that is too late to send my opinion but definitely is a Butorides virencens
 
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