Common Grackle is a familiar backyard bird almost everywhere east of the Rocky Mountains, and shows some fairly striking regional variation in color. This variation involves mainly the colors of iridescence, and is most obvious in males. Females of the two extremes are readily identified, but the full range of intermediates is only apparent in …
Subspecies of Common Grackle: Bronzed, Florida, and “Purple” Read More »
Stejneger’s Scoter is the Siberian counterpart of White-winged Scoter, only recently recognized as a separate species. The two species are very similar in all respects, and only adult males can be identified readily in the field. Stejneger’s is considered a very rare visitor to western Alaska, but my experience in Nome in 2021 suggests that …
Finding and Identifying Stejneger’s Scoter in Alaska Read More »
I wanted to know if I could find an objective and reliable feature that would allow me to distinguish any elaenia from any empidonax, and it turns out it’s the pattern on the folded wing. The presence or absence of pale edges on the primaries is the best single feature to focus on to be sure which genus you are looking at.
Jewelweed (wikipedia link) is a common plant in the northeastern US, where its late summer flowers are very popular with bees and hummingbirds. Its most notable feature, however, is its seed pods. When the tiny pods are ripe the slightest touch causes them to snap open, flinging the seeds in all directions (scroll down to …
For North American birders the most consequential change in the 2021 AOS Checklist supplement is the split of Mew Gull into two species – Short-billed Gull and Common Gull. For most birders this simply means changing the name of the species on your list from Mew Gull to Short-billed Gull. The North American population, common …
Mew Gull is now two species! How to identify Common Gull and Short-billed Gull Read More »
I was fortunate to be able to spend ten days in mid May 2021 on Great Gull Island, an American Museum of Natural History research site at the eastern end of Long Island Sound, New York. The island is occupied in summer by a very large colony of Common and Roseate Terns (among the largest …
This is a helpful alert to anyone still using the original Sibley Birds app, which was has not been maintained or updated since it was replaced by the Sibley Birds V2 app in 2018. Some users are reporting that the app will not open after the latest iOS update (June 2021). If you are still …
We begin to say a final goodbye to the original Sibley Birds app… Read More »
Prompted by a couple of recent records of Cave Swallows in the northeastern US, I’ve taken a fresh look at subspecies and done some new illustrations. In April 2021 Cave Swallows have been found in New Jersey and Massachusetts. Both have been identified as the Caribbean subspecies group. Since the 1990s Cave Swallow has been …
Mid-March is when the first northbound Fox Sparrows show up in Massachusetts, and it’s always a pleasure to see this burly, richly-colored sparrow. I’ve been working on some new illustrations showing the variation among the birds in my yard this week. Regional variation in Fox Sparrow is extensive, and gets a lot of attention, with …
Here is another recent project: I’ve been working on new and improved illustrations of Redwing for the bird guide and app, showing the differences between the two subspecies. The Redwing (Turdus iliacus) is a thrush common across Eurasia, from Iceland to Siberia. It is a very rare visitor to North America, mostly in Atlantic Canada …