Submit any posts with birds and I'll ID them DISCLAIMER: Sometimes I make mistakes. I am not a professional; this blog is for entertainment purposes only.
Long overdue introduction for this blog. Gimmick blog that identifies birds in posts, currently run by one mod (Mod Bird; it/its).
Birds are identified with both their common name and scientific name to reduce confusion.
FAQ:
Q: How do I submit a post for identification?
A: Feel free to send it through the inbox, submissions, messages, or tag me in the post. I try my best to respond to all of them (tumblr refuses to show me tags sometimes; frustrating), though keep in mind this blog runs off of a queue so if there are a high volume of submissions your post may not be posted for a couple of days.
Q: You've misidentified a bird in [insert post]!
A: Oh no! Feel free to add onto the post with a correction or send an ask; I'd much rather a version with a correct ID circulate.
Q: What is the bird in your PFP?
A: It is a loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus). The original image can be found here.
Q: I found a wild bird that appears injured, what do I do?
A: I am a hobbyist; I have no formal training in the field of ornithology nor am I licensed to give advice regarding injured animals. Please contact your local wildlife rehabilitators for advice. If the bird appears younger, see this post for additional information.
Tagging system below the cut:
#ID - For all identified birds
#Multi - More than one species of bird appears in the post
#Fledgling - Catchall tag for young birds. Everything from nestlings to actual fledglings to juveniles is covered under this tag
#Drawn - Depictions of birds (art, sculpture, 3D models, etc.)
#Fictional - Fictitious birds with inspiration from real birds
#Video - Exactly what it says on the tin. May or may not have audio
#Incomplete ID - Might be just a genus, might be just a family. Not enough information to narrow it down or it's a bird I don't recognize (if you have a clarification, feel free to send it in)
#Updated ID - Posts where a correction or additional information has been submitted. If a post has the updated ID tag, assume that's the one I'd rather people reblog.
#ID Provided - The bird in this post is already identified within the post! Makes my job easy
#Asks - Asks, submissions, corrections—anything that flies in through the inbox
For individual species, all birds are tagged with their order, family, genus common name, and species common name, with scientific genus and species included in the post text itself (example below):
If you're curious whether a specific bird or post has made an appearance on this blog, try searching it first. However, tumblr's search system is horrendous so I completely understand if I get the same post sent a couple of times.
Happy Pride to everyone but especially to Arthur and Bert, my interspecies gay finches who are in love and are incubating... something?... in their nest??
When my zebra finch Arthur lost his elderly husband Bruce last December (at eleven years old, which is positively ancient for a zebra finch!), I was really worried that Arthur would have a hard time finding love again. Thankfully, my local bird shop guy had a gay male shaft-tailed finch he was having a hard time pairing AND who was from an aviary that co-housed zebra finches, so that worked out perfectly! After a brief introduction period these two started courting and they are now married and very, very happy together.
Apologies for the delay on so many asks and submissions! Now that the inbox is (mostly) cleared out, a couple of notes:
For bird IDs, please try and include a relative location! There are a lot of very similar looking birds in the world whose differences are primarily defined by their range (see: grey heron vs great blue heron). If you do not provide a (relative) location, identification will be more difficult. (Note: does not have to be exact. Just [region], [country] will suffice just fine! Please do not give me your exact coordinates for bird identification; I will not post that for a completely different reason).
Additionally, please try and get a somewhat clear photograph. I know, birds are flighty and lend well to smear frames. However, I am a hobbyist, not a wizard. If you send me a blurry picture of a pond and ask "what kind of bird is this?" sometimes the best I can do is "there may or may not be a bird in this picture". (As a side note, if the picture is completely incomprehensible, I recommend submitting to @crapbirdphotography instead. I don't run that blog; I'm just a huge fan).
For non bird related asks, feel free! This is a bird related blog, but I am a person with interests outside of that. I probably won't answer all of them, but I do give them a read and appreciate all the nice comments. :] For those who do not want to see that, they will all be tagged as #not birds
Anon is on now. Be nice or it will swiftly be turned off.
We recently had a visit from this unusual-looking bird on our deck here in southeastern Pennsylvania! I think it's a wren (or possibly a junco?), and since its eyes don't seem to be pink I think it's...
We recently had a visit from this unusual-looking bird on our deck here in southeastern Pennsylvania!
I think it's a wren (or possibly a junco?), and since its eyes don't seem to be pink I think it's leucistic rather than albinistic. I'm not sure though, just because its plumage seems to be absolutely lacking in color, not just white in patches. (Leucisim vs albinism in birds)
This was submitted a while back, but for some reason tumblr won't let me add any text. Thankfully, the link to the original is intact.
I believe this is a leucistic house sparrow (Passer domesticus) (though leucistic house finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) is not out of the question), with the bird next to it being a dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis).
You are, however, spot-on in saying it's leucistic. Were it to have patches of white/pale colors instead, that would be piebaldism.
Would you be so kind as to identify this random bird that landed on my shoulder? It's so cute and I love him
Also I'm a little concerned for it, as something like this isn't really normal? Maybe it needed help? The people around there said it kept flying to people nearby, should I do something?
Looks like a great kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus) to me! While this is being answered… months late… it's likely that this bird has been fed a bunch by humans and thus sees them as a source of food. Not much you can do in that situation other than not exacerbate it.
need help in identifying this, photographed in Yunnan, China, in July.
I believe this may be a juvenile Asian brown flycatcher (Muscicapa dauurica). However, I am not positive, so I will also open the floor to any followers who would like to weigh in
My friend took a picture of this pigeon in Washington. I don't know what kind of pigeon it is but look at that swag in its strut!
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This is in fact a feral pigeon (Columba livia domestica)/rock dove, just not the traditional wild-type coloration! Huge fan of the brown-on-white (and its strut, of course).
