The Human Birdwatcher Project Presents: How To Misidentify A Bird

This may be a Curve-billed Thrasher, but we know how you can make it into a Bendire's. The verdict is in...identifying a bird does not need to reflect reality!

For years, The Human Birdwatcher Project ("birders are people too!") has been providing information on how birders can better themselves and avoid making common identification errors. We believe that this has left an impact...but it's not enough. Birds are still getting misidentified by the truckload. Maybe we've been going about it all wrong? Maybe some birders actually do not want to identify birds, they want to misidentify birds. So in the interest of serving the birding community and giving the people what they really want, we will supply you with a truly comprehensive list...that's right, the best misidentification practices to ensure that your identification skills will stay permanently stunted! Follow these tips and just watch yourself turn into an ace misidentifier of birds. Are you on eBird? Following these tips can get you banned! Are you a biologist who studies birds for a living? Kiss that job goodbye! Are you a beloved leader of local Audubon trips? Not anymore! Your once happy and fulfilling birding social life, filled with camaraderie and travelling adventures, will erode into a lonesome weekly dirge of going to the same mediocre places over and over again...misidentifying the same birds you see all the time as different rarities that you've never actually seen anywhere! After putting this list into play, you too can be a Magician of Misidentification, a Stormtrooper of Stringing, a Sultan of Sketchiness.

How is this possible? Well, read on!

Don't use a field guide. Use the internet instead! The internet has never been wrong about anything. Field guides have a lot of good information all condensed in one place. If you have any, throw them on the fire if you want to assure that your misidentification skills are kept razor-sharp.

Don't use a field guide that has been published or updated in the last 15 years. You want to be blinded from taxonomic changes and improved field marks. Golden Guide for life!

Don't learn about bird parts. What the hell is a scapular? How does a duck have a nail in its bill? Who would do such a thing to a poor duck anyway? Field guides and birders alike use a lot of lingo and jargon to describe different parts of bird anatomy, feather tracts, and types of markings. Avoiding learning about what these things mean is a great way to keep yourself in the dark about how to pick up on field marks.

If you avoid looking at range maps, you can successfully transform this Spotted Sandpiper into a Common Sandpiper.

Don't think about range or abundance. Are you in New Hampshire? Did that white bunting you just saw look like a McKay's Bunting? If you avoid learning the range of that bird, you could successfully avoid finding out that you probably saw a Snow Bunting.

In any given place in the country, most bird species are quite rare. There might be a couple hundred that are not, but then there about 9,800 that are. Do not take a bird's local abundance, or lack thereof, into account when identifying birds. That was not a flock of 30 Savannah Sparrows you saw yesterday, they were all Henslow's...knowing that Henslow's are actually very rare in your area could compromise your misidentification.

Don't think about seasonality. One does not find longspurs in California in June. If you are in California in June and you think you are looking at a longspur, it is best to not know this.

Don't consider similar species. You might say, "This bird looks like a Thayer's Gull". To that I would say, leave it at that! Don't delve into all the other gulls it could be and have to examine those pesky fieldmarks.

Don't think about habitat. Unfortunately, many bird species are found only in specific habitats, so if you do have a field guide (which should be ashes in the fireplace by now), don't ever read this section for any species, as it could sadly be quite educational.

Don't observe behavior. Was the bird pumping its tail? Was it on the ground or high up in a tree? These things are better left unnoticed.

Don't think about exotic species and "domestics". If someone questions your Fork-tailed Flycatcher observation and asks if it could have been a Pin-tailed Whydah, you tell them "that is not a real bird". If you see a giant brown goose 5 times the size of a Mallard that is too fat to fly out of the barnyard pond it's in, mark Pink-footed Goose off your checklist and move on.

Carolina Wrens are loud, with a very distinct song. You may be tempted to learn it, but that would be a mistake. Protip: Blare music from your phone whenever you feel like there is too much birdsong around.

Don't listen to bird vocalizations. Vocalizatons are very hard for inexperienced birders to wrap their heads around; even the best birders can be at a complete loss when identifying birds by sound if they are dropped into another state or country for the first time. So why bother? Give in to your confusion, your fears and do not pay attention to any boring noises the bird utters. Waste of time.

Don't use eBird. There are countless good birders out there who don't use eBird. That said, eBird is a fantastic tool for learning about what birds occur in a particular area. If you are an inexperienced birder and want to continue to make identification blunders, by all means continue ignoring the existence of eBird.

One field mark is good enough to clinch an identification. Don't closely examine the entire bird, just hone in on one field mark. I cannot stress how important this one is if you want to be constantly misidentifying birds.

Find your routine and never break it. Go to the same places over and over again, birding new areas as little as possible. Do not bird outside your county. This will assure that you have minimal exposure to different birds that you could inadvertently learn about.

Bird alone. Do not learn from others by any means! Also, you can keep making mistakes and no one will ever try and correct you. Brilliant.

Be completely dependent on your camera. Looking at a bird through a cluttered viewfinder and a hopelessly lost autofocus is absolutely what you want. Only ID birds from photos, no matter how bad they are and no matter how inaccurate the colors on the bird appear. For all those birds you don't photograph, it's like they never existed...right?

This is a Yellow-footed Gull. In the United States, 99.9% of birders will never see one away from the Salton Sea. This is a bird that is not only common away from there, they are not expected any place else in the country, period. Could you be part of that 0.1% to see them someplace else? Absolutely.

Presume it is not a common bird. Yup, you just happened to find the fist ever Pine Bunting in your state at your feeder. What luck! You are so lucky! No way it could be anything else, just go with it.

Presume it is a hybrid. You can read all about that right here, and if you want to learn more, additional resources are available in this post. It is really trendy to misidentify birds as hybrids right now, so come jump on the bandwagon!

You are never wrong about any identifications you make. Duh!

Get butthurt. Attack eBird reviewers who question your observations with great indignation and vitriol. Wage war on your state Bird Police when they reject your records. Not only should you never be wrong, let your emotions escalate and get carried away whenever someone disagrees with an ID you make. I recommend it highly! It's the bitter frosting on the cake of ineptitude.

Of course, if you want to move beyond being atrocious at identifying birds correctly and truly become a horrendous birder overall (the complete package!), the Human Birdwatcher Project has lots more advice to dole out. But you'll have to read the upcoming book to learn more, which is due out...

Nah, no book teaser, we've been providing this service for free for years now. Why? Because we at HBP care about you....it's not about us, it's about you, the human birdwatchers. We care about the birders who like to identify birds, and the the birders who like to misidentify birds...ok we care more about identifying them correctly, but you should now be fully equipped to readily misidentify birds on a daily basis. Please share your findings with rare bird alerts, listservs, eBird and Facebook groups. People will be impressed with your superhuman abilities to find unusual birds, though someday you might have to face an intervention. If that happens...well come right back here, and we will set you straight.

The Boobies Were Real

Ah, Baja. It wasn't that long ago...but sitting here in Harlingen, Texas, I feel very removed from that trip. But a dream it was not...the boobies were real. And so I thought I'd churn out another post before I get overloaded with work and get caught in the deep and fast-moving current that is spring migration on the Gulf Coast.

Unlike Todos Santos, an apparent booby wasteland, Blue-footed Boobies were lusciously abundant in La Paz. They were easy to see from the main waterfront, where these photos were taken.

Plunge-diving birds bring me much joy...you need good form if you are going to plunge underwater from great height and expect to catch something. There were also a number of Brown Boobies in the area, but I didn't manage any photos of them.

Being on the Sea of Cortez side of the peninsula, the common large gull in La Paz is Yellow-footed (above), not Western. Western Gulls are puny in comparison to the mammoth Yellow-footed.

Yellow-footed Gull is truly a gnarly beast. I wonder how they would do in a duel with Great Black-backed Gull. Let's hope they never hybridize, for all of nature will be lost.

Here's a young Yellow-footed. Unlike other large gulls, a 3rd cycle Yellow-footed Gull is essentially an adult bird. They grow up fast in Mexico.

Moon Vulture. Photographed at Playa Balandra, an awesome beach north of La Paz.

Ash-throated Flycatcher is a true creature of the scrub. You show me scrub, chaparral, and trees of unimpressive height...and I will show your Ash-throated Flycatcher. Their habitat doesn't change very drastically throughout their range, and it doesn't look that different down by the cape either. Photographed at Playa Balandra.

Atop the coke villa for a sunset, we ooze sexy.

I got my best ever looks at Gilded Flicker on this trip. Photographed in the cemetery at Todos Santos.

Having gorged on sweet sweet sweet Mexican nectar, the flicker contemplates the irony of feasting on bright flowery wonderfulness amid a barren field saturated with human remains. Gilded Flickers, after all, are known for leading a rich and rewarding inner life.

Hooded Oriole seems to be one of the most abundant winter birds in the Todos Santos area. Most of the males were a bit dingy looking...but they are still honorable birds. Todos Santos.

Xantus's Hummingbird...a bird that I saw many of, and a bird that I miss. Sure I can walk across the street today and see Buff-bellied Hummingbirds, but the Trochilid of Xantus lives in a league of its own. Do go and visit them when you have the chance. Todos Santos.

Magnificent Frigatebird doing a Black Skimmer impression at La Poza, Todos Santos. Truly versatile birds.

Moon Frigate. Photographed at Punta Lobos, south of Todos Santos.

Frigatebirds have a habit of furnishing some of the best birding memories. La Poza.

I have taken many frigatebird photos over the years...I think this is by far the funniest. Keep in mind the bird is not directly overhead, it's actually flying low and "standing" vertically in midair.

I do love me some Bonus Herps, although I depend on the kindness of nerds to identify them for me most of the time. This is a Red Diamond Rattlesnake (thanks Natalie).

Ok, here's a mystery lizard that lived at our coke villa in Todos Santos. Any of you cold-blooded folk familiar with this? I also saw a San Lucas Banded Rock Lizard on the side of the house one day, but failed at getting any documentation. It was a crippler though.

Our complete pinche Mexican crew on an ill-fated walk through the desert. It turns out jamming seven people into a tiny rental car doesn't work very well...but thanks to our overheating car, we all got some Wild Ass.

Gull Worshippers: The Cult of Larophilia

Thayer's Gull, generally a west coast specialty, is a species many birders struggle with. Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA.

It all starts simply and innocently enough. When you are a nonbirder, they are all seagulls. Case closed. But as you fall deeper and deeper in love with birding, you realize there are many gull species. They are similar, but should be easy enough to tell apart, right? But after that overly optimistic assessment, other, more experienced birders inevitably correct the IDs you are attempting. Gulls are not what they seem. You eavesdrop on gull conversations that include unfamiliar words like webs, mirrors, gonydeal angles, bleaching, backcrosses. You look at photos of strange birds online that appear telling to some, but mean absolutely nothing to you. You might as well be trying to read Egyptian hieroglyphs. Suddenly, you have the horrible realization that gull identification is extremely messy and complex. You become daunted, weak in the knees...how will you ever master this perplexing group of birds?

From here, birders go one one of two ways. Either they become extremely intimidated by gulls and refuse to master identifying them, or they obsessively begin gobbling information about them and spend long, cold hours in the field staring at gull flocks intently (although rarely contentedly). The majority of birders go the former route, at least temporarily. There are a lot of other birds out there that need to be seen that are more interesting, more unique, more attractive, don't hybridize and at the very least can be identified by the sounds they make. The fact that many great gull-watching sites happen to be dumps and landfills is nott very appealing either.

In California's bay area, gull-watchers often convene at the sites where herring spawn, in mid to late winter. Spectacular concentrations of gulls that gather to feed on herring roe hold a few rarities more often than not. Photographed near Fort Baker, CA.

Even the smaller, "hooded" gulls regularly cause complications for people. Franklin's Gull (above) vs. Laughing Gull is a regular struggle for many birders. Photographed at Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge, CA.

In fact, some birders find "gulling" to be such a difficult and unappealing activity that they fail to see the attraction of it at all. This post is for them. There are, in fact, a number of reasons to get into gull mode, for good or ill.

1) Rarities. There are a large number of gull species out there, they readily form mixed flocks, and they often migrate long distances. This means that they frequently turn up outside of their normal range and are highly prone to wandering...this includes everything from the diminutive Ross's Gull to the hulking Great Black-backed Gull. Birders love a rarity, and in the sometimes dull winter months (depending on where you live), if you want to find a rare bird, looking at gull flocks is a good idea. In fact, aside from a few species that occur across the continent (i.e. "American" Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Bonaparte's Gull), the majority of gull species common in one part of the country are likely to occur as a vagrant somewhere else. Add species from other continents in to the mix (i.e. Kelp Gull, Black-tailed Gull, Yellow-legged Gull, Slaty-backed Gull), and the possibilities of what you can find are almost endless...provided you know an uncommon bird when you see one.

If you are one of the people who want to begin (correctly) putting names to the gulls they see, this is a good "starter gull" for you west coasters. Adult Mew Gull is a very easy bird to ID and doesn't readily hybridize...they are also cute. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA.

Two "Olympic" Gulls (Glausous-winged X Western hybrids) and a Western Gull loiter next to a dump in San Leandro, CA. Olympic Gull is not only a common hybrid, its a common bird in general on the coast from central California north into British Columbia. A good "starter hybrid", I guess.

2) For birders who have been around for a long time, gulls often remain the most challenging group of birds to master. The amount to learn about their appearance, molt cycles, habits, variation and hybrids is practically limitless. If you love learning about bird identification, then dipping into gulls will keep you on your toes for the rest of your life.

3) The fact that large gulls are so prone to hybridizing raises a number of issues regarding taxonomy and species limits, which some find fascinating. Case in point is the Kumlien's Gull...the (almost) definitive gull book by Howell and Dunn treat it as its own species, but most high-ranking birders either consider it a subspecies of Iceland Gull or part of a massive hybrid swarm between Iceland Gull (glaucoides) and Thayer's Gull. The word on the street is that significant doubt has been cast on the study that proclaims Kumlien's to be a definitive species, but there has apparently been absolutely no followup on the genetic relationships of the Thayer's/Kumlien's/Iceland complex. Crazy shit, I'll leave it at that.

Speaking of funky taxonomy, this bird used to be lumped with Western Gull. Now you may think that all gulls are prone to vagrancy and grinding cloacas with different species...well, not this one! Yellow-footed Gulls are endemic to Mexico's Sea of Cortez, but wander in sizable numbers to California's Salton Sea. In the U.S., they have been recorded remarkably few times away from this lake, so if you want to see one in the ABA Area, there is only one place to go...more on the Salton Sea's special gulls in this post. Oh, they have never been documented hybridizing either.

Here in coastal California, young gulls can become exceptionally whitish by late winter. By summer, some young Herring Gulls that stay in the state essentially turn white, where they are inevitably misidentified as Glaucous Gulls. This eyecatching second-cycle Herring Gull is a very pale bird, no doubt colored in part by the California sun. Miller-Knox Regional Shoreline, Richmond, CA.

4) Prestige and Elitism. No explanation needed. If you know your gulls well, you will be worshipped as a birding Jedi. Become a gull warrior and you will start getting messages from gull wizards that youve never spoken to before, looking for your highly-valued gull opinions. Other birders will seek your consul and bombard you with gull pictures for you to identify. You will experience Raw Power like you have never felt before.

5) Variability. As mentioned above, there are so many factors that could cause a gull's appearance to be "abnormal" that it is really hard to get bored with gulls if you are trying to correctly age them and identify them to a species or particular hybrid combination. Put 100 gulls of the same age and species next to each other and you will be amazed at the differences between them...field guides don't get this point across, just time in the field.

This is what I call a first-cycle-late-winter-really-worn-and-or-bleached-bird-that-I-am-pretty-certain-is-a-Thayer's Gull-but-in-the-east-I-bet-they-would-call-it a Kumlien's Iceland Gull. I've seen a few of these birds in the bay area the last two winters. Photographed at Lake Merced, San Francisco, CA.

What the hell is this thing? I don't know. I can tell you some things it is definitely not, I can tell you some things it is probably not, and that is about it. I believe that's a Herring Gull (somewhere between 2nd and 3rd cycle) sitting behind it. San Leandro, CA.

6) Community. Top gullers are well known to other folks who are into gulling, and there are multiple gull-based listservs (and a pretty active Facebook group) out there so people can reach out for help and bounce prospective ID's off each other. Its nice because everyone is pretty open to learning and somewhat at the same level of ID skill. Having this network available is a great tool...and who doesn't like being part of a community? Aren't we all birders because normal communities shunned us anyway?

And that's it, straight from the source, one Seagull Steve. Hopefully you now have an understanding, and can sympathize with, the sickness they call Larophilia.

My favorite Larid! Red-legged Kittiwakes are one of the most lovable birds I've gotten to work with...if you have gotten to see this declining and charismatic seabird, consider yourself lucky. Buldir Island, Alaska.

Salton Birdscapes

From left to right: Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope. The sandpipers would frequently fight over a desired piece of mudflat, while the phalarope would referee.

When discussing birding the Salton Sea with nonlocal birders, a common response is wide eyes, a slack jaw, and incoherent jabber about bird-related jealousy. This routine typically winds up with "I've been meaning to go there for years now" or "I would kill 6 infant children with a hammer for the opportunity to bird the Salton Sea".

The fact is that you don't need to be a high-ranking power-birder, or murderer, to get access to the sea. It's right there, waiting to be birded. But with (generally) retreating water levels and ongoing salinity increases, its unclear how long it will remain the hotspot that it is. What are you waiting for?

Aside from the quality of birds there and high vagrant potential, the sheer numbers of birds there is a spectacle in and of itself, which I guess will serve as a loose theme for today's photos.

American White Pelicans. Lots of them. Photographed at the west end of Bowles Road.

Yellow-footed Gulls and Snowy Egrets. Interestingly, the bird on the right is much smaller-billed in comparison to the others...I'm not sure what to make of that. South end of the Salton Sea.

Tens of thousands of birds. West end of Bowles Road.

Staggering numbers...the mind reels. Bowles Road.

A Stilt Sandpiper shuns its comparatively abundant dowitcher bretheren. The Salton Sea is the best place on the Pacific Flyway (at least, in the Lower 48) to find this species in numbers. Bowles Road.

The sea is saturated with Black-necked Stilts. Wister Unit of Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR.

American White Pelicans and Snowy Egrets. West end of Young Road.

This is a classic Imperial Valley scene. White-faced Ibis, alfalfa fields, geothermal power plant, bleak martian landscape in the distance.

This Black Tern formation looked like they were trying to tell me something. Stay positive? Photographed from the north end of Garst Road.

Black Terns and assorted shorebirds litter the mudflats. North end of Garst Road.

A big group of Gull-billed Terns. Look carefully and you may be able to pick out some Stilt Sandpipers in with the dowitchers. In fact, you are not allowed to look away from this photo until you do. West end of Bowles Road.

Not a good picture, but the cormorant on the right is a Neotropic Cormorant, one of 2 that I oogled  and ogled that day. This olivaceous shag is a very rare bird in California, but the Imperial Valley is a great place to look for them. South end of the Salton Sea.

Cathartic California Birding: The Yellow-footed Gull

This bird requires all serious ABA birders to come to the Salton Sea at least once in their lives.

Lets face it...the best state/province to find gulls on the continent has to be California. There, I said it. Sorry to all you other landfill lurkers out there, but we are the best. Out of the 30 species of gulls recorded in the ABA Area, only Gray-hooded, Great Black-backed, Kelp and Yellow-legged have not been found in CA...and we all know Great Black-backed is just a matter of time. That means we have enjoyed species like Black-tailed Gull, Ivory Gull, Ross' Gull, Red-legged Kittiwake, Swallow-tailed Gull (!!!) and Belcher's Gull...the latter being the only one (and fortunately, one of the rarest) of these to grace my California list.

Being a relatively short distance from Mexico's Gulf of California (as the frigatebird flys), California boasts an endemic gull...not biologically speaking, but if you think in terms of being an ABA lister, Yellow-footed Gull is essentially only found in California. Yellow-footed Gulls are regularly found at the Salton Sea, most abundantly in summer and early fall. Despite many gull populations increasing, the Salton Sea remains the one and only place north of Mexico where you can reliably find this bird. If you dip on this bird at the sea (a dismal possibility for much of the year) and aren't obsessed with seeing one in the U.S., they are easy to get a few hours south of the border in places like San Felipe and Puerto Penasco (the latter town is pretty good birding in general), but most birders have gotten their lifer Yellow-foots at the Salton Sea.

This is a pretty typical looking YFGU. Similar to a Western Gull until you notice its feet (unless you are really colorblind, sorry).

Some of the best spots to find these coveted birds are at the end of Poe Road, near Red Hill, Obsidian Butte, and anywhere along the shore of the Salton Sea between the butte south to Young Road.

Another angle. Look at that massive bill. It's just a mean-looking bird, especially these pale-eyed individuals. Some YFGUs appear to have an especially orange cast to their bill and leg color, making them really glow.

Second-cycle (left) and first-cycle (right) Yellow-footed Gulls. Note the change in leg color as they age. Second-cycle YFGUs can retain pinkish legs though, which probably accounts for the number of Western Gull reports in the spring and summer at the Salton Sea. The majority of "real" WEGUs at the sea are typically found later in fall and winter.

Second-cycle Yellow-footed. This bird isn't very big-billed compared to some YFGUs, but note the yellowing legs and feet. The only Western Gulls that get yellowish feet (which is pretty uncommon) are spring adults, not young birds like this. The majority of WEGUs also have dark eyes. Howell and Dunn variously describe the standard Yellow-footed Gull bill as being "stout and bulbous-tipped" and the Western Gull bill as "stout, bulbous-tipped", so that should make things easy for you.

As shameful as it is to say, I'm sure more than a few larophobic birders have looked at a California Gull (abundant at the sea) and walked away feeling pretty happy that they saw the much-vaunted Yellow-footed Gull. Simply remembering that YFGUs are massive birds and that they don't form enormous flocks at the sea (well, not anymore) will help keep you in check. Here is a YFGU with a Ring-billed Gull for size comparison.

Not sure if this is a 3rd-cycle or adult bird...Howell and Dunn suggest that adults are always tattered and crappy looking. Sounds kind of racist to me, considering this is a Mexican endemic. Hey-oh!!! All photos in this post were taken along the southeastern shore of the Salton Sea.