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Southeast Florida, passerine-type IDs needed (1 Viewer)

Zackiedawg

Well-known member
Unfortunately I don't have the greatest shots for these, but hopefully enough for identification. I was in my pool and only had my mirrorless camera at poolside for those 'just in case' snaps...a thunderstorm was looming to the north and pushing our way, and something of a mini-fallout occurred in my yard - hundreds of birds dropped in, all through the high banyan and ficus trees ringing my backyard. Most were the 'usuals' - blue jays, cardinals, grackles, thrashers, doves. But mixed in were some birds that rarely if ever have shown up in my backyard - palm warblers, prairie warblers, northern parulas, etc. I was shooting from 60-100 feet away with a 210mm lens while in the pool, on a badly overcast late day, so the pics are not wonderful - but these are strictly for ID purposes.

1. Here's the first...I have several shots of this bird:
http://g1.img-dpreview.com/36163813CB79475585F31101A7F1C3A9.jpg

http://g2.img-dpreview.com/C0419070A61541C7B67F327A4FD5099A.jpg

http://g3.img-dpreview.com/636D0B1BDB7F4D12B51C2858B94471EA.jpg

After looking around online, I'm suspecting a female redstart, because of those triangular yellow tail markings...but would love a confirmation.

2. This one I thought was a blue-grey gnatcatcher, but for some reason this one looked a little bit larger and skinnier than the ones I usually see, and the beak seemed longer than I would expect:
http://g4.img-dpreview.com/87919E62F4B545BA96BB4BA2A5690841.jpg

3. This is a real mystery bird for me - I can't find anything on it. I only have one poor shot, mega-cropped, from behind:
http://g1.img-dpreview.com/024DDF06BF904B149535D044526D7E17.jpg

It was all white, grey, or black...no colors at all were noticeable. The feet and legs were distinctly pink and pale, rather than black. The bird was around the size of a small warbler - larger than the gnatcatcher. There looked to be small white markings on the outer wing, and it looked to have some kind of black masking on the face over or around the eyes. Underbelly was predominantly white, front chest possibly with some minor banding or blackish mixed in. The uppers were all grey and into the head. The tail was short and mostly grey uppers with white under. It was extremely fast in flight.

Any help appreciated!
 
I believe they are 1. Redstart 2. Blue-grey Gnatcatcher and 3. Black-throated Blue Warbler

Thank you for confirming the first two which I suspected...and I do believe you are correct on #3 - after looking up that bird, it does seem a very nice match. That makes my first spotting of this bird, and very cool that it was in my own yard!
 
Many thanks to all. I agree on the black-throated blue warbler - it is a bird known to be down this way, I just had never seen one before. Wish I had a better photo of it, but still I can tick off one more bird from the life list!
 
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