January 1st joint Birdforum list (2025 edition) (2 Viewers)

[Jos Stratford]

So do you reckon you saw both?

Yes, but didn't pay massive attention to the proportion on this day as ABA doesn't split and it is the most common warbler in winter in California, but males of both seen.

 

[Swindon Addick]

Yes, but didn't pay massive attention to the proportion on this day as ABA doesn't split and it is the most common warbler in winter in California, but males of both seen.

Myrtle Warbler takes us to 706, and Team USA to 187.

 

[Kirk Roth]

IOC splits Yellow-rumped Warbler. I found Audubon's Warbler in Oregon on the 1st. Is the one from Southern California Myrtle, by chance?

The picture is a female Audubon's. Note the yellow throat and lack of black auriculars.

 

[TicoTyler]

Myrtle Warbler takes us to 706, and Team USA to 187.

We need to string a few to beat 2024. Please add Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Slender-billed Curlew, and Dodo. They were in my backyard I swear.

 

[CPP Gardener]

Best I can do is Yellow-rumped, most likely Audubon’s, but not something I look at real carefully.

 

[ilikebirds-124]

Some from the PNW that may be new for the list (or not):
Spotted Towhee
American Kestrel
Pied-billed Grebe
Belted Kingfisher
Great Blue Heron
Red-tailed Hawk
Tundra Swan
Marsh Wren
Northern Shoveler
Bufflehead
Mourning Dove
Ring-billed Gull*
Glaucous-winged Gull*
Bald Eagle
Mallard
Harrier
Song Sparrow
I also saw an owl...several people had mentioned a Short-eared Owl in recent days in the same area, but I can't confirm.

*exact identification iffy; lots of hybridization (and I don't know my gulls very well)

Sorry, I saw a Stellar's Jay yesterday, but not today.

It looks like I got credit on the US list for the Grebe, Mallard, Tundra Swan, Northern Harrier and Marsh Wren, and the last three on the World list. Cool!
I want to confirm the swan - both Tundra and Trumpeter are common in this area. Any thoughts (I know, the photos are awful)?

 

[ilikebirds-124]

It looks like I got credit on the US list for the Grebe, Mallard, Tundra Swan, Northern Harrier and Marsh Wren, and the last three on the World list. Cool!
I want to confirm the swan - both Tundra and Trumpeter are common in this area. Any thoughts (I know, the photos are awful)?

Here are the Harrier and the Grebe. Didn't get a photo of the marsh wren.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

That's not a Harrier. It's a buteo.

 

[ilikebirds-124]

That's not a Harrier. It's a buteo.

Thanks for the input! So, that must be a pic of one of the red-tailed hawks I saw (unless you think it might be a different hawk). Didn't get a photo of the Northern Harrier.
Could you tell me what characteristics led you to that conclusion? Thanks!

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

I'd say it's a juvenile red-tail but it's pretty heavily marked on the breast. All that marking on the upper breast is throwing me a bit, which is why I just said buteo. The markings seem more like a Broad-wing, but they're not here right now. It's not a Red-shoulder, so by default it's a 'tail.

A harrier is a slimmer bird and has a very flat, round face that's kind-of like an owl. The tail is longer than a buteo's although it doesn't always show. It's also got much skinnier legs than a buteo. They usually don't have so much white on the back.

Your bird just looks very beefy.

 

[ilikebirds-124]

I'd say it's a juvenile red-tail but it's pretty heavily marked on the breast. All that marking on the upper breast is throwing me a bit, which is why I just said buteo. The markings seem more like a Broad-wing, but they're not here right now. It's not a Red-shoulder, so by default it's a 'tail.

A harrier is a slimmer bird and has a very flat, round face that's kind-of like an owl. The tail is longer than a buteo's although it doesn't always show. It's also got much skinnier legs than a buteo. They usually don't have so much white on the back.

Your bird just looks very beefy.

Thanks for the very thorough descriptions!
I'm gonna go ahead and take the harrier off my list; I just can't be sure I saw one anymore, without a photo.
However, it looks like I can ADD my two gulls to the list - a Glaucous-winged x Western Gull hybrid and a Short-billed.

 

[mjh73]

We need to string a few to beat 2024. Please add Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Slender-billed Curlew, and Dodo. They were in my backyard I swear.

And I had Paradise Parrot in my backyard I swear 😆

 

[Swindon Addick]

Fortunately that wasn't our only report of Northern Harrier so the total isn't affected. Northern Harrier becomes bird number 630 in place of 603 and the ones in between all move up one.

We don't generally count hybrids, but Short-billed Gull is an IOC species and new for the list, so 707 for the world list and 188 for the USA.

 

[ilikebirds-124]

Fortunately that wasn't our only report of Northern Harrier so the total isn't affected. Northern Harrier becomes bird number 630 in place of 603 and the ones in between all move up one.

We don't generally count hybrids, but Short-billed Gull is an IOC species and new for the list, so 707 for the world list and 188 for the USA.

Great, thanks!
I also have been informed on another thread that my Tundra Swans are Trumpeter Swans, so I added Trumpeter to the list and crossed off my Tundra. I hope someone else saw a Tundra/Bewick's? I was surprised Trumpeter wasn't already there.

Hopefully by next year I will have improved my bird ID skills! That's why I'm here.

 

[cutlera1976]

I can add, from Mexico:
Sandwich Tern
Royal Tern
Neotropic Cormorant
Magnificent Frigatebird
Yucatan Jay
Tropical Mockingbird

 

[Swindon Addick]

Trumpeter Swan and 6 new species from Mexico get us to 714, with 195 for combined North America and 189 for USA. This is probably a good point to draw a line under our 2025 list. Thanks for joining in, everyone.