Bird Id Part 2.5

[paulnj]

I had the ID instantly from the first image..... DOWNY

The beak is too short and the white above it are some good field marks to go by. Hairy/ Downy isn't that easy though as You can tell.

[mjs1973]

I had the ID instantly from the first image..... DOWNY

The beak is too short and the white above it are some good field marks to go by. Hairy/ Downy isn't that easy though as You can tell.

Thanks for the help Paul!

[Lava Lamp]

Came across this bird on a trail through woods near a marsh. He ran along the trail in from of me for a while and this was the best shot I could get that wasn't just his rear end. Looks like a house sparrow, but it was pretty orange and extremely puffed up, as you can see. So what it is?

[paulnj]

... swamp sparrow ;)

[Lava Lamp]

Have we had a crow yet? I've found them very hard to photgraph -- very wary and all black.

[alboy]

here is a shot of a gull i got this morning..

[paulnj]

Sorry, but all UK gulls I can't ID ... YET. coastal birds are my weak point.. don't tell though ;)

This appears to be a Common Gull ( Larus canus )

[alboy]

yup its a common one, there is hundreds of them here.
there is a sparrow hawk always having a go at them, the gulls gang up on it, im yet to get a good shot of that happening......
cheers.
alan...

[paulnj]

COMMON GULL is the name of it ;)

[alboy]

did some research and its a herring gull, we dont have many common gulls here..

[paulnj]

I don't want to sound like a know it all, but who says that it's a herring gull? While the UK has herring gulls of a different subspecies, I know the subspecies that resides in the US quite well . The outer flight feathers don't have enough black to my eyes, but I could also be WRONG since that's a different subspecies??

The UK has Larus argentatus argenteus , while the US has Larus argentatus smithsonianus

http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidli...arus_canus.htm

" The Common Gull is most likely to be mistaken for a Herring Gull but notice that it is much smaller with altogether more delicate features, including the fine bill which lacks a red spot. It also has greenish legs and a darker grey back than most Herring Gulls. In flight the black in the primaries makes a more extensive wedge with bolder neater white blobs near the tips. Immature Common Gulls in flight have a conspicuous black wedge on the leading edge of the primaries "

After much google research I still am not convinced of either ID ;) The white on the wing tips of the adult COMMON gull is missing and the BLACK feathers in the tips seems too little for herring gull. herring gulls have 4 different winter(or summer) plumages by age, so this very well could be a 3rd year herring with fewer black wing tip feathers than usual ;)

[alboy]

i must say you are very much correct, after looking it up more i found that the herring gull and common are very much the same looking but the common is much smaller which this bird is.


cheers..
alan

[paulnj]

I was not claiming to be correct, but if indeed it is small we have us a Common Gull ;)

I am not the best at IDing birds, but do know the fieldmarks to look for. IDing birds isn't that easy sometimes.. even for me

Thanks for making me think!!

PLEASE keep the images coming too!

[paulnj]

Have we had a crow yet? I've found them very hard to photgraph -- very wary and all black.

THAT IS ONE SWEET SHOT THERE!!!!!