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Lots of ID help from S. Florida (1 Viewer)

Zackiedawg

Well-known member
I've got a good handful of IDs needed - I haven't posted any here in a while, as I've been saving a few up...and the rest I've been able to figure out on my own. As usual, many of the little warbler-like birds get me stumped at times. Any help greatly appreciated!

1. Sharp-shinned or cooper's hawk?
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/154198906/original.jpg

2. I think this is a pine warbler, but would love a confirm:
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/154198898/original.jpg

3. Poor light here, but could these all be female northern pintails, or something else?
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/154198889/original.jpg

4. I labeled this a savannah sparrow...if anyone can confirm:
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/154198879/original.jpg

5. More pintails?
http://g1.img-dpreview.com/92789EB9B065492B99CD572E5FE14FE2.jpg

6. Possibly a pine warbler?
http://g3.img-dpreview.com/507A423AFD834724A09871E573527338.jpg

7. This pair of ducks didn't look the same - here's a better look at the first duck which didn't look like our typical mottled duck...could it be a black duck?
http://g2.img-dpreview.com/DB2DF79E339C4A10B3DF606E0B9C6C46.jpg

And here's a better look at the second duck following behind:
http://g4.img-dpreview.com/0A9E208C673248F189614F6F15E29728.jpg

8. I was thinking possible yellow-rumped warbler for this one?
http://g3.img-dpreview.com/8F2BD7FCF8C149C3AD2AE8E817F9FB30.jpg

9. This one might be tough, as it's a blur - the bird presented as more orangey-yellow to the eye, with not much in the way of wing bars or other distinguishing marks:
http://g1.img-dpreview.com/4F0A2ABD81F7404BBD18198739EE7A10.jpg

10. This one you can't really see the colors right, as it was badly backlit, and was recovered a bit - so the colors here might not be accurate - it was a bit more visibly yellow on the neck/belly than you can tell here, but not bright yellow - more pale:
http://g3.img-dpreview.com/D3D8EF8BFE144BC4AC12E0843FFAB651.jpg

All ID help much appreciated!
 
1) I'll stay clear of the discussion on this one - not much to go on from this angle.
2) Yes.
3) Female (?young?) Northern Pintails
4) Yes.
5) Yes.
6) Yes. (Note habitat ;-) )
7) Back one's a female-type Pintail; the other may be Mottled, I'm not so familiar with those.
8) Yes.
9) Can't be sure. I think Common Yellowthroat is likely, though, given how plain it is, and the bill shape.
10) Probably another Pine Warbler.
 
I mostly looked at the ones Peter had some uncertainty about - 1, 9, and 10. I agree there's little to go on for the accipiter, but based on head size, and the fact that a Cooper's is far more likely in south Florida than a Sharpie, I'd call it a Cooper's. I'm fairly confident 9 is a Common Yellowthroat, and I agree with Peter about 10 as a Pine Warbler.
 
Many thanks both. I wish I had gotten more on that hawk - it was spotted far off in the distance, and I quickly fired two shots...then forgot about it. It was too far for a naked eye ID, but only when I got back home and looked did I realize it wasn't the usual red-shouldered. The coloration made me think more of sharp-shinned - we do have a lot of coopers hawks down here, but they usually don't show so much grey...and I've seen and positively ID'd a sharp-shinned in the same general vicinity. This was the other shot, which doesn't provide any better of a view:
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg/image/154198907/original.jpg

Thank you on the other ID's - I was fairly sure of the northern pintail females, mostly because I had spotted large groups of males too - but these ones were in a seperate spot and I just wanted to be sure that's what I had.

I'm getting better with the warblers - the pines were my best guess and glad to see I was on the right track. On #9, I forgot about common yellowthroat - that is a good possibility, especially a female or juvie. And 10 was a pretty bad backlight, but pine is certainly believable for the time of year and location.

I'd appreciate if anyone else could give a second opinion or backing on #7 - primarily the duck in front of the pintail. We have lots of mottleds, but this one did look notably darker and the bill was darker - and seemed to be lacking the black 'tip' mottleds usually have. Black ducks are more rare around here, but that was the only thing I could think of that can look a bit like mottled...but it also could have just been a mottled with anomalous coloration.
 
Agree with what's been said above, adding that:
1) Coop to me based on head-size and head-projection in flight
7) the non-pintail appears to be a female Mallard, with black saddle on the bill, and based on bill coloration
 
Thank you all. Thanks Alex on the possibility of mallard too - I hadn't considered that since we rarely have mallards down this way, though they are quite common just a hundred miles north - with the cold weather we've been having it could have driven some a little farther down.
 
Thank you all. Thanks Alex on the possibility of mallard too - I hadn't considered that since we rarely have mallards down this way, though they are quite common just a hundred miles north - with the cold weather we've been having it could have driven some a little farther down.

I've seen Mallards swimming amongst the Baltic Coast of eastern Germany surrounded by sea ice in March, so they are pretty hardy and I wouldn't expect them to forced south by a cold spell, they might be though.
 
Agreed - I've seen them quite often up north in snowy and icy conditions. With the cold front moving into South Florida last week, I think if anything it just opens up the possibility of 'exploring' for some birds - being willing to stretch farther south than usual. We're very tropical in South Florida, and we always have our best winter birding when we have very cold fronts move through and consistently drop temps into the 60s high and 40s low (F). We'll see many more species, especially ducks, whenever that happens. The pintails are the first time I've ever seen or photographed those, in 7 years of birding down here. Other first-time ducks I've seen only during cold spells are mergansers, eiders, ring-necked, ruddy, widgeons, and shovelers. We can go several 'winters' without seeing those when it stays warmer...as soon as cold snaps pass through, we see many more types of ducks and birds. Every first-sighting of those ducks listed above came during a cold spell lasting at least 3-4 days...cold being a relative term here in Florida!
 
Good point. I visited Florida in Jan-Feb 2012 and never got higher than Miami. I was mainly in the Keys and in the Everglades and saw 82 Species, including, Blue winged Teal, Great Northern Loon, Green Winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Ring Necked Duck, but no American Black Duck. I got those in Newfoundland, Canada. I think it was a fairly mild winter in the south. I've never seen that many approachable wild birds that I saw in the Everglades, they didn't seem worried about all the people visiting them.
 
Most of the links are broken for me, but the first pic is of an adult Cooper's Hawk (dark crown, eye well forward, long tail) that is probably a female (big belly).
 
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