Inspired by David Sibley to Keep Asking "What are these birds?"

 
Mystery Bird #4 

Back on November 10th, I put up a post called "Help Wanted:  Bird IDs".  It was a shout out, a cry for help in identifying nine birds that I had seen and photographed (in some cases, somewhat badly photographed) in my yard in late summer and early fall.

Besides the post hoping to attract responses from loyal blog readers, I also sent the link out (twice) to the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club through their Yahoo Group.   I got a number of good responses and we were able to pin down four birds (which added 3 to my 2008 list).  Thank you!  But I still have 5 birds that haven't been confirmed.

Today, I read a post on David Sibley's blog entitled "How many rare birds did we miss before the internet?"  In the post, Mr. Sibley talks about how the internet along with digital photography has increased the likelihood that rare birds can be identified.  It takes a chain of events to make it happen, and that chain must not be broken.

Other points he makes is that the person who sees the bird must take a photo of it and then "go to the effort and the risk of showing the photos to other birders to try to identify it".  Further, if you hit a wall, you had to "continue pushing the pictures out on the internet". 

What sage advice!  Although the birds I'm trying to identify are not "rare" birds, they were different from the everyday visitors in my yard.  Were they life birds? or yard birds? or first-of-2008 birds?  I didn't know.  Some, I had an idea of.  Others, not a clue.  And the photos were admittedly poorer than average.  But I put them out there anyway, with a request for help.

So, in the spirit of David Sibley, I will put it out there again.  If you're up for a challenge, take a look at the post "Help Wanted: Bird IDs" and let your voice be heard.  Thanks in advance, and thanks to David Sibley for the inspiration.

Comments

[Gunnar Engblom]

Don't know much about ID:ing North American Catharus Thrushes, but doesn't this strong rufous coloration on rump and the warm brown upper parts make it an obvious Hermit Thrush?

[The Zen Birdfeeder]

Larry - could you share the link to the birdforum you use. I'm of little help to others but always looking for some myself!

[Larry]

I'm not crazy about id'ing photos.-If I need something identified, I post it on Birdforum uder the identification section.-I always get a response in a short time because there are so many birders who use it.-thousands. The last i.d. challenge I took-I thought it was easy-Ruby-crowned Kinglet I said-I had no idea that there was a vireo-(hutton's I think) that looks just like it.

[The Zen Birdfeeder]

Greg - thanks for visiting and your input. There have been a number of comments regarding Bird #4 that mention the light or the yellowish wash. If this will help, here's the camera properties of those images:
Date taken: 9/22/08 10:06am
Color Representation: sRGB
Metering Mode: Spot
Exposure Compensation: 0 stop
I didn't alter the pictures' colors manually or through an Auto Correct on a photo-editing software. I hope this helps. Thanks for spreading the word.

[Greg Neise]

#4 looks like a Swainson's Thrush in very warm, possibly late afternoon light.