Hey! There are BIRDS in the desert! (1 Viewer)

I'm in Palm Desert, CA and I just hadda join birdforum cuz visitors out by the pool (usually Canadians, familiar only with penguins, I guess, and then only if a polar bear happens to be eating one - a penguin not a Canadian) are always asking me, "What kind of bird is THAT, ay?" and I haven't a clue. There's one in particular interest to Josie, my cat, that's abundant and not a dove or roadrunner, that I'd like to identify first because it's usually the one people (Canadians, usually) point to and ask about. And I've been noticing it for about 20 years and feel I should know, by now, what it is. It (or they - the bird not the Canadians) frequents a small orange tree less than six feet from the window where Josie looks out each morning. It's bigger than a sparrow and smaller than a jay - about six inches tall and about 10 inches, beak to tail-tip. Overall it looks gray but with numerous black, crescent shaped markings like a child's drawing of feathers on a bird and its main features are very distinct, single white bands mid-wing that are only visible during flight. It has a smallish "cone shaped beak" (the only bonafied birding term I know fromn the site I visited just before this one), not stout or needle like and a little longer than the width of the head. The bird is a fast and nimble flier. It spends a lot of time darting in and out of the shrubbery around the swimming pool.

Is there such a thing as an Ident-a-kit for birds?

And can anyone recommend free birding software that I would find useful in the Southern California desert?

Thanks and I'm looking forward to getting to know some of your and the rest: Eh!

Hello and welcome to the forum. You might find these websites useful for general bird identification purposes:

http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/search_advanced.asp

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1053

But personally, I find a field guide still the best way to learn bird identification. A good one for your area would be the Sibley guide to Western birds.

Not sure about the bird you describe. Northern Mockingbird comes to mind, but it has a fairly thin bill. You might want to repost this in the Bird Identification Q&A forum.

Best,
Jim

bernynhel said:

Is there such a thing as an Ident-a-kit for birds?

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Actually, there is (or close to it). Try going to the WhatBird site. There you will be guided through a number of questions about size, color, shape, location etc. and finally given a list of candidates. It is by no means perfect but if you are lucky it might give you your answer! Good Luck!!

Woodbadger said:

Actually, there is (or close to it). Try going to the WhatBird site. There you will be guided through a number of questions about size, color, shape, location etc. and finally given a list of candidates. It is by no means perfect but if you are lucky it might give you your answer! Good Luck!!

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The first site I linked to is similar. The paintings on whatbird are sometimes inaccurate or misleading IMO, so I'd be leery about relying on it alone.

Cordially,
Jim

bernynhel said:

(usually Canadians, familiar only with penguins, I guess, and then only if a polar bear happens to be eating one - a penguin not a Canadian)

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You should not stereotype all Canadians like this!3
I for one know nothing about bears but a little about birds!8-P
And by the way where do you find penguins in Canada,the zoo!

J. Moore said:

The first site I linked to is similar. The paintings on whatbird are sometimes inaccurate or misleading IMO, so I'd be leery about relying on it alone.

Cordially,
Jim

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Very nice, Jim! I was only familiar with the Sibley online at eNature. This is a nice addition to my "links".

bernynhel said:

"What kind of bird is THAT, ay?"

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Ay? AY!??! What part of Canada are these people from, Edinburgh?

Your bird sounds very intriguing though - sort of like a Clark's Nutcracker (gray, white in the wing) but the "black, crescent-shaped markings" don't match anything I know of. (Except (at a loooong stretch) a flicker of some variety - but neither of those birds has a bill that you'd describe as "cone-shaped.")

Intriguing, indeed... please tell us more about it, its habits for example - do you see what it is eating? Walks on the ground ever? Hops? All is useful. (But a photo would probably clear this up in 2 seconds flat).

Cheers,
Peter C.

P.S. In two decades of birding, I've seen exactly one penguin - and that was on a beach in Penneshaw, South Australia! Haven't seen a Polar Bear yet, and wish, to paraphrase Dickens, "that the pleasure be postponed indefinitely."

Woodbadger said:

Actually, there is (or close to it). Try going to the WhatBird site. There you will be guided through a number of questions about size, color, shape, location etc. and finally given a list of candidates. It is by no means perfect but if you are lucky it might give you your answer! Good Luck!!

Click to expand...

I tried that, for a couple of different birds, but due to my lack of nomenclature regarding body types, for starters, the software seemed inclined to draw a conclusion and ID a specific before I was finished filling in what I knew about it. I restarted several times and got nowhere. Could be for experienced birders, though. But THANK-YOU for the input and your time.

borealowl47 said:

You should not stereotype all Canadians like this!3
I for one know nothing about bears but a little about birds!8-P
And by the way where do you find penguins in Canada,the zoo!

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I was kidding. When I talk to friends who live anywhere it snows I like to say "you SEE snow?" Well yes,"they reply." And I say, "You mean on the top of some mountains you can see from your window..." "No! Falling in the yard, on my car, everywhere!" They always fall for this, don't ask me why. "It SNOWS where people LIVE??" My kicker, "Isn't that ILLEGAL?" I love Canada, really beautiful and great people. I've been all through Western Canada from Victoria to the Rockies. Would stay with a friend's grandparent's in Kelowna when we were in school during several winter holiday breaks and ski with the uncles and cousins. Canada's lagers and ales, alone, compared to whats been called the same in the US, should be enough to embarrass US brewers to try harder.

Peter C. said:

Ay? AY!??! What part of Canada are these people from, Edinburgh?

Your bird sounds very intriguing though - sort of like a Clark's Nutcracker (gray, white in the wing) but the "black, crescent-shaped markings" don't match anything I know of. (Except (at a loooong stretch) a flicker of some variety - but neither of those birds has a bill that you'd describe as "cone-shaped.")

Intriguing, indeed... please tell us more about it, its habits for example - do you see what it is eating? Walks on the ground ever? Hops? All is useful. (But a photo would probably clear this up in 2 seconds flat).

Cheers,
Peter C.

P.S. In two decades of birding, I've seen exactly one penguin - and that was on a beach in Penneshaw, South Australia! Haven't seen a Polar Bear yet, and wish, to paraphrase Dickens, "that the pleasure be postponed indefinitely."

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Yeah, I shouldn't have assumed everyone would know I was joking. But how come no one answered that no penguins habitate the Northern Hemisphere? They are a BIRD, aren't they?

The crescent shaped markings, I think, are just the black tips on the body feathers making them stand out against the lighter gray.

A photo. Yeah. My Sony DSC-5 recently took a fatal blow but as soon as I replace it I'll upload one. Thanks!

could it be a cactus wren?