The Networked Bird Observatory Blog

We’ve got a new ID in the game today: Orchard Oriole.

This image of what I think is a first-year male was taken by rafa on May 10 (yesterday) at 11:36 a.m. There were several others, some of which showed a second bird that I’m assuming is a sibling of this one. This is the clearest shot in terms of showing this bird’s two distinct wingbars, which I’m thinking (based on Sibley) are the field mark that best helps distinguish him from a first-year male Hooded Oriole.

Congratulations, rafa!

We just got some more shots of what I’m pretty sure is the same odd-looking dove I posted about yesterday. This is the dove I speculated might be White-tipped, but which Dr. Selma Glasscock of the Welder Wildlife Refuge said she thought was probably a Mourning Dove. Here are the shots I just got; I’ll update with any different shots obtained by other users when the images move out of the one-hour embargo:

Update: Here are three more shots. These were taken by robin54, txbird, and txbird again, respectively:

So, what do we have here? I have a real hard time seeing “Mourning Dove” in these. It it’s a Mourning Dove, something really unusual happened to its tail. I guess that’s possible, but I’m also not seeing the dark spots on the wings, and overall it doesn’t seem slender enough for me.

Look at the fourth shot of the initial batch (the ones taken by me). Is that a white corner on the tail? I think I’m seeing that, which pushes me in the direction (again) of either White-winged or White-tipped. The dark wings contrasting with the lighter body make me think White-tipped, but then again, maybe that’s an illusion caused by the foreshortened view we’re getting. And is there a hint of white under the edge of the wing, especially (again) in that fourth shot by me? The overall color seems more White-winged than White-tipped to me, at least judging by the illustrations in Sibley, but the head markings, especially in that last shot by txbird, seem more consistent with White-tipped.

I don’t know either of those birds from direct observation, so I hesitate to try to call this based on the available images (especially with Dr. Glasscock, an on-site expert with a long history in the area, disagreeing). But I am familiar with Mourning Doves, and I’m having a really hard time interpreting these shots as being one of those.

I’m interested in what others think.

Later update: After googling for photos on the web, I can see that White-winged is right out; the white border on the wing would be clearly visible if this were White-winged. And I’ve found several photos of White-tipped that look an awful lot like this bird.

Even later update: Dr. Glasscock posts in the comments that after seeing these latest shots, she’s changed her mind, and thinks these (and those earlier shots) are in fact a White-tipped Dove. Woohoo! Now let’s see if we can get an official ID in the game.

Still yet later update: The first image I took (the one showing the dove from the back) has now received enough votes to be ID’d as White-Tipped Dove. Yay!

Check out these two hummingbird shots from yesterday afternoon. First is a shot by whereismyrobot, taken at 4:38 p.m.:

This one is by avatar99, taken at 5:51 p.m.:

These look a lot like the male Ruby-throated we’ve seen, except for that strip of blue along the bottom of the gorget. I can’t figure that out at all.

Is that color really there? Could it be an odd artifact of the camera’s response to the bright iridescence of the gorget? I’ve seen some odd camera effects relating to color in the past, but I’ve never noticed anything like this. But if that color is real, that’s a really unusual-looking hummingbird that I can’t match up with anything in my field guide.

Update: I just noticed that two other shots from yesterday have now been classified as Black-chinned Hummingbird, and that makes me wonder: Could this blue we’re seeing in the above shots be the camera’s response to the black-and-purple of the Black-chinned’s throat? (Later update: Oh, and vireo wondered the exact same thing in a comment posted at the same time I was entering the above update.)

Here are the two shots that have been classified as Black-chinned. I’m not sure I agree that they’re definitive, but they’re certainly interesting, and the second shot, especially, has me leaning in the Black-chinned direction. Both shots were by birdbrain, from 6:03 p.m. and 6:08 p.m., respectively:

Anyway, congratulations birdbrain!

I’ve mentioned how I’m not sure what species the hummingbirds that aren’t Buff-bellied are; it’s clear that they’re either Ruby-throated or Black-chinned, but without a good view of the color of the male’s throat (which requires that the sun be behind us as we look at him), it’s really hard to distinguish the two.

I missed it at the time, but vireo got a shot of a hummingbird perched on one of the feeder wires yesterday that answered that question:

It’s not a great shot; it’s pretty much impossible to get the camera to focus when zoomed in on a small target like that with most of the field taken up by the more-distant background. But you can see the color of his throat: that’s Ruby-throated red, not Black-chinned purple.

That was pretty cool, but the series of shots that several users got this afternoon were even better. txbird got my favorite:

Awesome shot!

So far we’ve definitely seen Inca Doves in the game, and a few Mourning Doves. These shots from yesterday around 10:50 a.m. show what I’m thinking might a third species: the White-tipped Dove. These were taken by idbirds, rafa, and jamesflowers, respectively:

The checklist of Welder birds forwarded to me by Dr. Selma Glasscock doesn’t list White-tipped Dove at all, though the Sibley range map shows them as being at least close to Welder, and the articles I’ve read on John Rappole’s work refer to them as one of the species suspected of expanding their breeding range into this part of Texas. I’m curious what the rest of you think. In the meantime, check those doves! They aren’t all Incas.

Update: Dr. Selma Glasscock chimes in in the comments: This isn’t a White-tipped (she thinks Mourning Dove, probably), but White-tipped are at the refuge. So keep checking those doves.

Later update: Based on some later images (see More shots of the ‘mystery dove’), Dr. Glasscock has changed her mind, and says she now thinks these shots do show a White-tipped Dove. Yay!

Dr. Selma Glasscock at the Welder Wildlife Refuge was good enough to forward me a checklist of birds seen at the refuge. I want to create an HTML version of this for convenient web browsing, but until I have a chance to do that I wanted to share the Word document that she forwarded to me. It breaks down bird species into common, uncommon, occasional, rare, and accidental, and gives those designations for each of the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter). I can see this being very useful to us in trying to figure out some of the trickier IDs.

Here it is: Birds of the Welder Wildlife Refuge (75K MSWord document).

Update: Now available in HTML form for online viewing: Checklist of Welder Birds.

Here are a number of shots from the last few days that have me scratching my head:

rafa got this shot yeterday, though I didn’t notice it until it was pointed out in the comments today:

I’m not sure what I’m looking at there; it seems to be a male oriole, or maybe a male Black-headed Grosbeak, but it’s hard for me to say what’s going on at the top of the bird; is that the back of its head? Its shoulders, with its head ducked down out of sight?

Compare it with these two photos taken today by robin54 and kryptonkay, respectively:

I’m getting an oriole feeling from these images, but beyond that I’m not prepared to commit myself.

Here’s another shot of what looks very much like a woodpecker, perhaps the Golden-fronted Woodpecker that was possibly photographed on the same tree yesterday. This shot was taken by avatar99 at 9:15 a.m. today:

Here’s a shot that txbird got today at 11:57 a.m.; the bird is hard to see until you notice it perched in the sticks on the left side of the image:

It’s hard for me to say what it is, but compare it to this next one. This is a bird that I really wanted to get a closer shot of, but by the time we got done wrestling over the camera it flew off:

birderbf mentioned in chat that he or she got a shot of this bird, too, and ID’d it as a female Painted Bunting. Looking at the shot I got, I could totally see that; I’m looking forward to seeing any other shots that show up after they’re done being “embargoed” for the hour that has to elapse before players other than the person who took the shot can see them.

Update: birderbf and thedevilbird both got a shot almost, but not quite, identical to the one I got, with their two shots being actually identical to each other. Here’s the shot they got:

So again, I don’t think I’m completely comfortable with calling this a female Painted Bunting based on these shots alone, but it certainly looks as much like one as anything else I can find, and I’m willing to defer to someone who has actual experience with seeing the bird in real life (which I don’t).

I got this shot a few minutes ago. I’m posting it here even though it’s not a great shot because I think it shows a new species in the game. Unfortunately, I’m not sure what species it is. The bird, which was walking fairly quickly along the edge of that muddy patch left of the pond, is near the top of the shot, walking from right to left:

I’m pretty sure that’s either a Louisiana or a Northern Waterthrush. I’ve emailed Dr. Selma Glasscock at Welder to ask if they have any information about what species have been seen at the refuge, and what dates they’re typically seen on; that might help narrow things down. But in the meantime, don’t forget to check that muddy patch. It’s been producing really good birds.

User osprey got this very interesting shot this afternoon:

I’m not positive, but that sure looks like it has a bright yellow beak. And if it does, I’d be inclined to call it a European Starling. Worth keeping an eye open for, at any rate.

On the other hand, I’ve seen shots before where a piece of flotsam (or whatever) in the background lined up just right with the bird to make it look like it had a feature that it actually didn’t. So maybe this is actually a blackbird, and that isn’t really its beak. But it sure looks like it.

Update: The above image has now picked up enough votes to get an ID of European Starling. Also, birdbrain had this image, for which he or she entered the following comment:

Had very bright yellow beak… and somewhat speckled.

So far this one doesn’t have enough votes for an official ID, but I was willing to vote for Starling.

User rafa is getting a lot of amazing shots lately. But I think this might be my favorite so far. I’d give this shot six stars if I could:

I haven’t seen one of these since I was 12 years old, and lived with my grandparents in Florida for a time. That’s when I first became obsessively interested in birds, and I can still remember what a thrill it was when I saw an Indigo Bunting for the first time.

That was more than 30 years ago, but I felt that same excitement when I saw this shot of rafa’s today. Please keep those great shots coming.