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Topic Categories: Birding • Education • Mystery Birds • Photography • Teaching • Travel
Posted on: November 11, 2009 9:59 AM, by "GrrlScientist"
tags: Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus, photographed at Quintana Neotropical Sanctuary, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 30 October 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/180s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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Comments
now we're talking... looks like a small thrush (coloring and cocked tail)... not sure where the Quintana Neotropical Sanctuary is- possibly Houston?
So we have a thrush with a brown back, the hint of a reddish tail, but can't see the breast to determine spotting: possibly Swainson's (Catharus ustulatus), or Hermit (Catharus guttatus), or Bicknell's (Catharus bicknelli), or Gray-cheeked (Catharus minimus)...
As far as range is concerned (in late October): Bicknell's is not found in Texas, the Hermit does winter in Texas, the Swainson's winters in Central and South America and presumably migrates through Texas, as does the Gray-cheeked, and I don't think any of the Nightingale-thrushes venture that far North (although it looks a lot like a Russet Nightingale-thrush, Catharus occidentalis), so I'm going to go for:
a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) as below
Hermit Thrush at Beaver Creek Nature Area near Brandon, South Dakota
Hermit Thrush on the banks of the James River, Virginia
Posted by: David | November 11, 2009 12:20 PM
Huh? I guess my comment from this morning went astray again?! I suppose I should just put up with it as "nuns fret not at their convent's narrow room; and hermits are contented with their cells"...
Posted by: David | November 11, 2009 2:05 PM
I am going to say ovenbird. Can't see any indication of breast or crown streaks but from this angle that could be obscured. Olive green top, red legs, eye ring. Could be lots of other stuff, but that is my guess.
Posted by: DSC | November 11, 2009 3:31 PM
I'm with you on this one, David. Reddish tail and longish legs suggest Hermit Thrush. Do Nightingale-Thrushes occur in the US?
Posted by: Adrian | November 12, 2009 6:40 PM