10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 13, 2017

For me, the key to identifying the difference, comes with the banding on the tail, and when a bit closer, the yellow legs and cere. The tail bands on the adult birds consist of three bands with the third, or lower band much wider and cleaner white.

Tail Banding 40

Tail Banding Turkey Birds Mexico 40

10,000 Birds

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

It seems the bird I saw is a first-winter one, at least according to the HBW description: “First-winter has head white apart from dark brown mottling on crown and nape; upperwing-coverts extensively marked brown; black subterminal tail-band; dark bare parts.”

Birds 105

Birds Tail Banding Species Animal 105

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

An American birder might consider a hybrid with the size (actually, slightly bigger) of a Band-tailed Pigeon and the wing pattern of a White-winged Dove. Add a broad, dark tail band and you pretty much have a woodpigeon.

Feral 63

Feral Tail Banding Birds Turtles 63

10,000 Birds

JULY 29, 2017

The dreadful screeching put me in mind of a young bird crying to be fed, but the juveniles are much lighter underneath with dark streaking, two broad tail bands and paler, scaled crests. The call sounded as though a piece of bodywork was rubbing against the wheel of an approaching lorry. The mate did not look impressed.

Eagles 45

Eagles Tail Banding Birds Reptiles 45

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 2, 2012

It’s 90% Broad-wings, paddle-shaped with crisp tail bands, but there are a handful of Sharp-shinned Hawks mixed in too, looking for all the world like the flying gavels described in every hawk-watching tome. Eventually these specks below the horizon coalesce into funnels of birds above the horizon.

South Carolina 83

South Carolina Birds Tail Banding North Carolina 83

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 27, 2011

What can you notice about the tail of this bird? The uneven tail bands are usually a dead giveaway for Coop’s. It is hard to distinguish this Sharpie’s head projection, but the view of the tail is good enough. The edge of the retrices look to be a sharp 90 dg.

Birds 95

Birds Tail Banding Hamburgers Philadelphia 95

10,000 Birds

APRIL 20, 2011

From the tail band, it looks like an immature. Skimmers, of course, use that laterally flattened mandible to cut the water and leave a trail of light–intriguing to small fish at dusk. When the fish rise to investigate, a split-second snap of the bill captures a meal. It’s a three-year seagle.

Florida 58

Florida Ducks Tail Banding Birds 58