Thursday, March 5, 2009

Name That Bird

Yes folks, it is indeed time for another round of name that bird.


If you are tired of bird pictures, please feel free to leave me a note to that effect in the comments of this post. Suggestions of what you would like to see more of would be appreciated as well.

If on the other hand, you like our winged and feathered friends, continue on for the rest of this episode.

Once again, I was able to capture this image thanks in large part to my youngest son who is a great spotter and who also is developing a good eye for composing a picture.

This contestant was spotted in February 2009, in the desert in the southwestern part of the USA. He (or she, I'm no expert on bird genders) was near Phoenix Arizona as a matter of fact, just to the East of town, in the lower parts of the Superstition mountains.




I am using the first picture (with a tighter crop) as my avatar on Twitter this week. I asked the folks there for guesses as to his heritage and lineage and received several very good suggestions within a few minutes.


@WolfSnap said: I think it's a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
@CoopersDesign said: Looks like a Rock Wren

So tonight I finally made enough time for this entry and pulled out my faithful guide, The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of North American Birds. I looked at both the Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher (p. 190) and the Rock Wren (p. 189).

The Rock Wren habitat sounded right "pebbly areas ... to [areas] with large boulders".

But the Gnatcatcher also sounded like the right habitat "...primarily Mojave and Sonoran desserts". I am leaning this way, based on two things, the guide says the size for a Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher is about 4.5 inches tall (My best guess) instead of the stately 6 inches typical for a Rock Wren. Also, the pictures in my book make the Rock Wren look a bit more brown which does not fit this guy. I realize that I have a definite advantage in that I was there and have some idea of how big he was, so I don't want to take anything away from any of the suggestions that were twittered to me as they were based only on the picture in my avatar which gives no sense of scale.

As always, I'll add my disclaimer that I am a total and complete newbie to this birding game and am willing to reconsider my choice in the face of any additional ideas or reasons, so please, comment (here or on one of the photos) or even on Twitter by sending me an @ message.

So what animals (birds or others) have you seen in your part of the world? I would love to know what critters to look for if I were to visit your area. Please leave me a comment here and let me know what part of the country or world you are in and what some of the typical sights I would see.
Thanks again for dropping by.


--------------Updated 3/5/2009 8:30 pm
Ann sent me this pic that she has id'd as a Rock Wren

(displayed here with her permission). Thanks!
Posted by Flowing Desert Photography at 5:30 AM
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6 comments:

  1. I could see how it could be either one. I'm trying to dig up the picture I took of what I THINK is a Rock Wren out here in Northern Utah's "Antelope Island" to compare the two.
    As soon as I find it, I'll send it along for you to post.
    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm leaning more towards Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. It also could be (but not likely) a Black-capped Gnatcatcher. The second one has a smaller range and not likely near Phoenix. The first one, more likely.

    It does however have the appearance of the Rock Wren, but if the bird is indeed approx 4.5 inches rather than 5-6 inches, that rules it out completely.

    The Black-tailed Gnatcatcher has a white spot on the tail with the tail being fan-shaped. The pose is non-cooporative to see the fan-shape, but I do see white approx where the spot matches the illustration found at WhatBird.com.

    Also, if you can remember the sound it made - it if did - you can listen to the possibilities on WhatBird (or iBirdExplorer if you have it on your phone) and rule out others or positively identify.
    ReplyDelete
  3. Ann sent me this pic that she has id'd as a Rock Wren and I am adding it above as an update to the blog (with her permission). It certainly does look like mine, but I'm still pretty certain about the size being closer to 4-5 inches rather than 6 inch size of the Rock Wren.

    Red, I am still VERY new at birding and really have not started listening for their calls, so I don't have any sound information to help identify it. :( I'll have to start listening.
    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm very new to birding too and have just started listening to the sounds. Generally I don't know what a bird is by sound but if I can kinda remember a sound it helps on tricky id's since they may have totally different sounds.

    I've only claimed to be a birder since November and learned a lot from bird bloggers on tips on things to observe. Not that I could ID your bird for certain now or in the field but some I can. This one is tricky
    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi everyone! I have been birding in the Southwest for several years now, and IMHO there's NO WAY this bird is a black-tailed gnatcatcher. Look at its bill. The black-tailed gnatcatchers has a smaller bill. Gnatcatchers also have distinctive eye-rings and this guy or gal has no eye ring. Also look at how the wings are folded back into the tail - classic wren. Look at how long the wings are compared to the tail - the gnatcatcher's tail would be MUCH longer compared to where the wings end. Plus the coloring of the tail is way off for both male and female black-tailed gnatcatchers. I would suspect that if this guy or gal is a juvenile rock wren, which would explain the size difference if the bird was indeed 4 inches versus 6 inches. On the other hand, size is really difficult to judge in the field. It may also explain why this bird doesn't have the distinctive white-speckled back shown by most (but not all) rock wrens. But the coup de grace on this NOT being a black-tailed gnatcatcher is that gnatcatchers rarely stay still for very long, are very difficult to photograph, and would not likely be standing on a rock (you would normally find them flitting about in trees), whereas the rock wrens I've seen do tend to sun themselves a bit on rocks, stick around and are much easier to photograph.
    ReplyDelete
  6. WOW! This is the kind of dialog that I enjoy. I appreciate the feedback and learning I get from more experienced birders (pretty much any birder is more experienced than me).

    I guess I am switching my call and claiming this one is a Rock Wren. I will be updating this information in the picture keywords in my files and online where appropriate.

    Thanks for the feedback and I look forward to putting more posts up for more learning soon.
    ReplyDelete

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