Sibley Guides

Variation in immature American Herring Gulls

David Sibley — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:46:17 +0000

A recent discussion about geographic variation in Herring Gulls (on the ID-Frontiers listserve) prompted me to go back and scan some photos I took in 1998 at Cape May. At the time I was sorting out what seemed to be two populations of Herring Gulls, identifiable in their first winter by plumage and shape. There [...]

New feature: a bird identification quiz

David Sibley — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:15:16 +0000

Identify the species shown in each photo by clicking the multiple choice answers. I hope to make short quizzes like this a regular feature of this website, so please leave feedback on what you like or dislike about it. Thanks!

Northeastern Backyard Beaks Please wait while the activity loads. If this activity does not load, try refreshing your browser. Also, this page requires javascript. Please visit using a browser with javascript enabled. If loading fails, click here to try again Congratulations - you have completed Northeastern Backyard Beaks. You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%. Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%% Your answers are highlighted below. Question 1Red-breasted NuthatchTufted TitmouseBlue JayWhite-breasted NuthatchQuestion 1 Explanation:Question 2Blue JayWhite-breasted NuthatchBlack-capped ChickadeeTufted TitmouseQuestion 2 Explanation:Question 3House FinchAmerican GoldfinchCommon GrackleNorthern CardinalQuestion 3 Explanation:Question 4White-breasted NuthatchField SparrowDark-eyed JuncoTufted TitmouseQuestion 4 Explanation:Question 5House FinchSong SparrowEastern TowheeNorthern CardinalQuestion 5 Explanation: Once you are finished, click the button below. Any items you have not completed will be marked incorrect. Get Results There are 5 questions to complete. You have completed questions question Your score is Correct Wrong Partial-Credit You have not finished your quiz. If you leave this page, your progress will be lost. Correct Answer You Selected Not Attempted Final Score on Quiz Attempted Questions Correct Attempted Questions Wrong Questions Not Attempted Total Questions on Quiz Question Details Results Date Score Time allowed minutes seconds Time used Answer Choice(s) Selected Question Text All doneNeed more practice!Keep trying!Not bad!Good work!Perfect!

The two stages of field identification

David Sibley — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:31:43 +0000

As I work on the revision of my field guide I’ve been giving a lot of thought to how the book can assist the process of identification, and what information is most useful to a birder in the field. I’ve settled on the idea that there are two stages of bird identification, each one requiring [...]

A Wurdemann’s-like heron from South Florida

David Sibley — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:47:45 +0000

Thanks to reader Anne DuPont for sending in these photos of a pair of Great Blue Herons at Wakodahatchee Wetlands, Delray Beach, Florida. It’s clearly a mated pair, but the female (sexed by behavior) has more white on the head and fore neck, paler legs and bill, white head plumes, paler rust color on the [...]

Sibley Flashcards of Common Birds – on sale Feb 7

David Sibley — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:56:50 +0000

The sturdy box contains one hundred cards, each showing one species of commonly seen bird on the front, with details of habits, identification, and range on the back of the card.

Click to view on Amazon.com: Sibley Backyard Birding Flashcards: 100 Common Birds of Eastern and Western North America

Or click for info from [...]

The origin of the Snowy Owl invasion

David Sibley — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:28:04 +0000

Snowy Owl. Original gouache painting copyright David Sibley. Published on the cover of the Journal of Raptor Research 2011.

Snowy Owls are making news this winter, as in the New York Times today (link)

The conditions setting up this invasion started at least a year ago. Last summer, burgeoning lemming populations in the arctic [...]

Sibley eGuide available for Kindle Fire

David Sibley — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:42:56 +0000

The Sibley eGuide to birds was recently adapted for the Kindle Fire tablet (and still works on other Android OS devices). You can find it at the Amazon app store.

In other news an update for the Android OS is coming soon that will (among other things) remove the annoying requirement to verify over the [...]

Identifying sleeping female goldeneyes

David Sibley — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:22:56 +0000

Like many other species of ducks that are distinguished by head shape, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes are at least as easy to tell apart when sleeping as when they are awake. Birds that are awake and active change head shape a lot as they go from relaxed to alert to diving, but sleeping birds are [...]

Distinguishing male and female American Goldfinches

David Sibley — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:16:06 +0000

The underside of the tail of four different American Goldfinches - two males and two females. See text for details. Photographs of birds trapped for banding in Concord, MA, copyright David Sibley.

For much of the year, distinguishing male and female American Goldfinches is easy (when the males show their brilliant yellow summer plumage, [...]

Subspecies of Scaled Quail

David Sibley — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:13:15 +0000

There are four named subspecies of Scaled Quail, three in the US and one in Mexico. The subspecies found in southern Texas is distinctly different from the other three, at least in adult male plumage, and makes the list of field identifiable subspecies. Here’s a quick summary of the differences, based on study of specimens [...]