Winged Wednesday 1/21/2020

Eric Gofreed

Well-Known Member
I thought for today's Winged Wednesday I would post four different local desert birds that have similar colorations.
Rufous-crowned sparrow-03003-Edit.jpg

This little brown round bird with a reddish cap is a Rufous-crowned sparrow. LBRD is a birder's term for hard to identify sparrows; it an acronym for "Little brown round birds"

Say's phoebe-3482-Edit.jpg

This little brown flycatcher with reddish ventrum is a Say's Phoebe. This bird was named for American naturalist, Thomas Say. Interesting Say's phoebe call notes is a soft cooing "saaaays."

Abert's towhee-4210-Edit.jpg

This Chubby brown bird with a a black face and reddish vent is an Abert's Towhee. This sparrow-like bird is mostly endemic in Arizona but small population exist in the surrounding state.

Crissal thrasher-5654-Edit.jpg


Crissal Thrasher is easily recognized by its long, down-curved bill, its long tail, its reddish vent and gray-brown coloration. Its mellow, musical song makes it one of the finest desert songsters.
 
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AlanLichty

Moderator
Kudos for nailing the exposure on this black feathered bird. I think it is a raven.
Could be a raven - the only ways I know to tell them apart is the shape of the tail in flight and whether or not they are gathering in a group (a murder). We have ravens as well as a couple of kinds of crows up here in the NW but most of the ones I see in our neighborhood are highly gregarious so I assume crows.
 
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