[cobirds] Redpoll ID
COBirders, Yesterday I camped out at the Ft. Collins Museum of Discovery feeders, hoping to spot a Hoary Redpoll. Despite the frequent attention from raptors: Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Merlin (2) and Kestrel; the Redpoll flock of ~75 birds was actively feeding most of the morning. I focused on the palest birds and by midday felt I had several candidates for Hoary, however, after studying the photos & seeking some outside (objective) opinions, I believe all three are Common Redpoll. For anyone else on the Hoary mission, a collection of "light Commons" can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgburke/ Arguments against Hoary: - streaking on undertail coverts -- while faint, should be pure white - size of red poll -- should be smaller & positioned more toward the "forehead" - bill size -- very subjective, but on the birds I photographed, bill size more consistent with Common Happy hunting! Peter Burke Boulder, CO -- http://www.linkedin.com/pub/peter-burke/5/788/a62 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
[cobirds] Redpoll ID
Hi, all. Andy Boyce, formerly of Colorado, has a thought-provoking post this morning at The ABA Blog: http://blog.aba.org/2013/01/open-mic-redpolls.html Andy's topic is how to ID Hoary Redpolls, or perhaps how *not* to... Anyhow, great stuff in there, including a detailed and thoughtful response from Bill Schmoker. Increasingly, I'm thinking of the finch family as the final frontier of bird ID: the multiple "types" of Red Crossbills and now Evening Grosbeaks; hybrids and species limits in rosy-finches; molt and vocal mimicry in goldfinches... Me? I think I'm gonna stick with orange-variant House Finches... :-) Ted Floyd tedfloy...@hotmail.com Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
[cobirds] Redpoll ID p.s.
Sorry to load your inbox, but I put a male Common Redpoll pic up on my Flickr site taken at about the same time, in a similar pose in similar light, for comparison: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9047968@N02/8330627179/in/photostream That is all… -Bill Schmoker, Longmont __ • Bill Schmoker • __ http://schmoker.org http://brdpics.blogspot.com bill.schmo...@gmail.com 720/201-5749 __ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
Re: [cobirds] Redpoll ID
As a longtime birder in Minnesota, just having moved here three months ago, I have seen thousands of redpolls, and nearly 25 hoaries. I have seen hundreds that show Hoary tendencies, spent hours studying them, and I have even seen the Greenland race on one occasion, which makes it very easy. The fun is in the observation and the knowledge you pick up. The discussions on this listserver have been excellent...Photographs or video help an awful lot...The difference between one streak on the rump or three requires a great angle of unobstructed view, great clarity of view with good optics, and a ton of luck to have these fidgety birds stay put long enough to satisfy your mind. I expect to continue to log in Redpoll Species in those cases where I did not satisfy the criteria for Hoary... The outcome is the same...interacting with a sublime flock of Boreal Birds, about as good as it gets... Now if I can just find a WT Ptarmigan in winter plumage Good Birding, Mark Alt Denver -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
