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grrlscientist | November 5, 2008tags: Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus -- a hatching-year bird of unknown sex -- photographed in central New York. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright [larger view].
NOTE: Rick says this is a favorite image because it shows the wing formula so well, so in this case, we are going to ask you to age and sex this bird as well as identify it.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide,…
grrlscientist | November 4, 2008tags: politics, birdie message, image of the day
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George, 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | November 4, 2008tags: Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, photographed at the east end of Galveston Island, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 16 April 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/125s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Hard to image anything plainer. But that very plainness -- plus the odd hint…
grrlscientist | November 3, 2008tags: Hawaiian Goose, Nene, Branta sandvicensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Nene (Hawaiian goose), Branta sandvicensis, photographed in the United States. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: John del Rio, 2008 [].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Not much mystery to the identification of this mystery bird: anyone who recognized in this bird's large body, sturdy feet, long neck, and conical bill the classic marks of a goose will also, more…
grrlscientist | November 2, 2008tags: Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hutton's Vireo, Vireo huttoni, photographed in Boyce Thompson Arboretum, Superior, AZ. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
There's no question that this is a small bird, is there? If we start at the back, we find a shortish, narrow tail stuck on to a comically pudgy body; the shape and the extensive yellow-green…
grrlscientist | November 1, 2008tags: Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Red-winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, photographed at Shoveler Pond, Anahuac Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 26 February 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
[Along] With House Sparrow, this is the favorite species of every…
grrlscientist | October 31, 2008tags: Western Screech-Owl, Megascops kennicottii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
Peek-a-boo! [Mystery bird] Western Screech-Owl, Megascops kennicottii, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:06:11 13:51:11
Exposure Time: 1/40
F-Number: 5.60
ISO: 500
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
We're going to cheat in a minor way, and take full advantage of our knowledge that this bird was…
grrlscientist | October 30, 2008tags: Pacific Golden-Plover, Pluvialis fulva, American Golden-Plover, Pluvialis dominica, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pacific Golden-Plover, Pluvialis fulva (left), and American Golden-Plover, Pluvialis dominica (right), photographed on Fir Island, Skagit County, Washington State [I will identify these birds for you tomorrow].
Image: Marv Breece, 6 October 2008 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/640s f/7.1 at 300.0mm iso800.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:…
grrlscientist | October 29, 2008tags: Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:05:07 07:33:04
Exposure Time: 1/200
F-Number: 14.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
There are birds that are instantly recognizable once we "know" them, but those same species can be puzzling when encountered for…
grrlscientist | October 28, 2008tags: Northern Hawk-Owl, Surnia ulula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Northern Hawk-Owl, Surnia ulula, photographed in the Meadows Campground near Hart's Pass of the Okanogan National Forest, located above the Methow Valley of Eastern Washington [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Lee Rentz, 19 October 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Even with owls it pays to start at the rear of the bird. Many owls are stocky and stumpy,…
grrlscientist | October 27, 2008tags: Lincoln's Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lincoln's Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, photographed in Manhattan, Kansas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Dave Rintoul, 25 October 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Take a good look at this bird: have you ever seen anything more beautiful? "Sparrows" are dismissed by too many birders as difficult and dull, when in fact they are neither.
Well,…
grrlscientist | October 26, 2008tags: American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] American Avocet, Recurvirostra americana, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2007 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2007:03:09 09:10:55
Exposure Time: 1/1250
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Since I know this bird is easy for you guys, I am going to ask you to tell me what you think the bird is doing, standing there like that with its wings standing straight up.
Rick Wright…
grrlscientist | October 25, 2008tags: Neotropical Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Neotropical Cormorant, Phalacrocorax brasilianus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:10:01 07:47:53
Exposure Time: 1/249
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Look carefully at this bird's right foot, and you'll see that the web actually includes all four…
grrlscientist | October 24, 2008tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:12:10 08:20:56
Exposure Time: 1/400
F-Number: 7.10
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
What seems at first regard a completely straightforward identification leads us down a tangled path indeed. Nearly everyone will have…
grrlscientist | October 23, 2008tags: Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:04:26 15:20:04
Exposure Time: 1/124
F-Number: 16.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Forget the bird -- what on earth is that plant? We're used to woodpeckers clambering about in good solid trees: Red-headeds…
grrlscientist | October 22, 2008tags: Worm-eating Warbler, Helmitheros vermivorus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Worm-eating Warbler, Helmitheros vermivorus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Yes, there's a bird in there, and yes, it's identifiable. As a great American poet once observed, all too rarely do the birds we see in the open look / like their pictures in the birdy-books; the views…
grrlscientist | October 21, 2008tags: Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula, photographed in Arizona Fremont, California. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Collin M Jensen, 25 April 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A brown duck. The fact that the plumage comprises solid blocks of color rather than complex patterns makes this a diving duck, and the largely white sides and breast should…
grrlscientist | October 20, 2008tags: Black-throated Magpie-Jay, Calocitta colliei, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black-throated Magpie-Jay, Calocitta colliei,, photographed in Mexico [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Rick Wright.
This mystery bird quiz has a twist: Name ten other bird species that share this mystery bird's habitat. Or, to put it another way, if you see this species while out birding, what other species are likely to also appear on your bird list for this area? Hint: to answer this quiz, you have to correctly identify this bird, learn where its range is and identify…
grrlscientist | October 19, 2008tags: Northern Saw-Whet Owl, Aegolius acadicus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Northern Saw-Whet Owl, Aegolius acadicus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2007 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2007:01:03 16:32:23
Exposure Time: 1/60
F-Number: 11.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
I think it's an ash, but whatever the identity of the foliage, those would have to be mighty leaves indeed were…
grrlscientist | October 18, 2008tags: Lesser Nighthawk, Chordeiles acutipennis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lesser Nighthawk, Chordeiles acutipennis, photographed at Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix, Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:07:12 07:24:54
Exposure Time: 1/60
F-Number: 16.00
ISO: 200
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Cryptic of plumage, large of eye, tiny of bill, this can only be a nightjar. The folded wingtip reaches more or less to the tip of the tail -- hard to…