Small bird IDs (Alberta) (1 Viewer)

[AdamfromCanada]

1) Found in Calgary.

2) Found in Waterton National Park

3) Found in Dinosaur Provincial Park in cottonwood grove.

4) Found in Dinosaur Provincial Park...appeared to be feigning injury as I approached.

5) Found in Dinosaur Provincial Park.

 

[cavan wood]

1 european starling
2 young cowbird I think
3 a young wren, not sure but looks like house
4 vesper sparrow
5 eastern kingbird

 

[Peter C.]

Concur with all of Cavan Wood's IDs, except that I am not at all sure about #4. I would expect some more eye-ring contrast with the the rest of the face in Vesper. However, the only alternative is one of the longspurs, and I don't think there's enough white in the tail for those....

I am fairly confident that #3 is a House Wren, though.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

My instinct on #4 was also vesper sparrow. In addition to the white outer tail feathers you can see a hint of the rufous shoulder patch.

Agree with the others.

 

[james holdsworth]

I can't really say what four is except that I don't think it can be a Vesper Sparrow.


Besides really looking nothing like that species...weak facial pattern, lack of eye-ring, proportions etc., it also shows an arrow straight culmen [on a very large bill], all black central tail feathers, primaries, secondaries and tertials all without and buff or paler edges and a primary projection and stagger much more similar to that of McCown's Longspur.

I agree, though, the tail pattern is completely off for either McCown's or Chestnut-collared. So, I don't really know.

 

[mmalady]

hello im very new to birding but i have a question about bird #5...from this pic, how do you discern between a young tree swallow and a eastern kingbird?

 

[Peter C.]

hello im very new to birding but i have a question about bird #5...from this pic, how do you discern between a young tree swallow and a eastern kingbird?

I, too, was struck by this - just looking at the thumbnail, Tree was the first thing that occurred to me. However, looking at the full-sized image, you can see white tail tips, with a bit of a notch to the tail.

Independently of that, the posture is just a bit too upright for a swallow.

 

[james holdsworth]

Did a google search on Vesper Sparrow and did find a few that looked like this bird [4], just very worn I guess.

As Emily Latella would say.......''never mind.''

 

[Tero]

The flycatcher does not have long enough wings for tree swallow.

 

[AdamfromCanada]

Did a google search on Vesper Sparrow and did find a few that looked like this bird [4], just very worn I guess.

As Emily Latella would say.......''never mind.''

http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=409

This article talks about the behaviour of feigning injury...which really describes well what she was doing. It was a fascinating display...puffing herself out and sort of rolling around in the dirt...then moving a little ways further off and doing it again, only to fly away a short while later completely fine.

Makes sense for a bird that nests on the ground. And fits exactly what the bird was doing.

Thanks everyone for your feedback...it's been very helpful!

 

[peachfront]

To mmalady: We have the advantage of "general impressions I guess" but look at that tail -- the shape, the white "line" at the bottom. It's Eastern Kingbird without a doubt.

With swallows, just keep looking at a lot of swallows, not just to pick out Tree Swallow but to be able to distinguish them from swifts. Very good practice. It's hard to put in words but look at silhouettes a lot. If we couldn't see the white band at the bottom of the tail of this Kingbird we would still doubt it was a swallow. Why? I don't know except practice, practice, practice. Look at shapes, not color, even when you can see color, because it's good experience for situations where you're getting silhouetting. Admittedly where I live I've seen I've seen a lot of Eastern Kingbirds, in the very early 90s they even bred in my yard, whereas Tree Swallows are more a winter bird in flocks or "tornadoes..." So I have "cheats."

hello im very new to birding but i have a question about bird #5...from this pic, how do you discern between a young tree swallow and a eastern kingbird?

 

[zz1666]

Starling, Cowbird, House Wren, Vesper Sparrow, Eastern Kingbird, although my initial reaction was that it was a Tree Sparrow due to coloration.

 

[cavan wood]

http://www.seattleaudubon.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=409

This article talks about the behaviour of feigning injury...which really describes well what she was doing. It was a fascinating display...puffing herself out and sort of rolling around in the dirt...then moving a little ways further off and doing it again, only to fly away a short while later completely fine.

Makes sense for a bird that nests on the ground. And fits exactly what the bird was doing.

Thanks everyone for your feedback...it's been very helpful!

I won't say that the vesper sparrow was not feigning, but it is quite likely that it was simply taking a dust bath. Birds roll and fluff in the sand/dust to help deal with mites and other ectoparasites.

Scott

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

hello im very new to birding but i have a question about bird #5...from this pic, how do you discern between a young tree swallow and a eastern kingbird?

To me, the shoulders are too broad for a swallow. Or in other words the width of the shoulders and the width of the head are much closer on a swallow than on a flycatcher.

That and Tero's comment. The tail of the bird in the photo extends well beyond the wing tips. That would not be the case for a tree swallow.

 

[mmalady]

thank you so much everyone..i definitely see the white on the tail and the wing length as distinguishing factors but admittedly, noticing the "shoulder width" and the "silhouette" will take ALOT of practice...thanks again folks