Really gorgeous shot Tony!! I read through the little ID debate - I think the reason people are having trouble is because there's no front view of the bird - which would help. This is a hard one - it doesn't have the typical buffy "spectacles" of a Swainson's. I didn't think it was a hermit at first but looking closely the tail does appear slightly rufous but I think it's being subdued by the lighting. Anyways, I'd probably call it a hermit, but not meaning to reopen the debate
Imagemaster wrote:
Thanks for all your comments. Since even the birders can't decide, I am going with Swainson's.
Tony
I think it's another Hermit Thrush, maybe 1st yr. Look at the rufous tail and light speckling of the chest (not so visible in yours but it's there). Plus the wings are plain without any wing bars - almost all of NA flycatchers seem to have wing bars somewhere on the coverts.
The debate continues , getting past the wonderful photographs and with respect to Redtail and Dorian I am still of the opinion that it is a Swainsons . My monitor an (Imac) shows a distinctive eye ring, buff cheeks and a greyish back. The tail is a bit rufous but not anything like Dorian's nice image of a Hermit . To me the tail shows more brownish rufous then reddish rufous.
If it is a lifer for you, you might want to consider sending copies of your images together with your observations about the lack of tail bobbing to the ornithology dept at the Smithsonian Institute or Cornel University, perhaps they can give you a positive ID. Should you decide to follow up with either of agencies I would be interested to receive a PM on the answer, Good luck.Alan
Alan Dean wrote:
The debate continues , getting past the wonderful photographs and with respect to Redtail and Dorian I am still of the opinion that it is a Swainsons . My monitor an (Imac) shows a distinctive eye ring, buff cheeks and a greyish back. The tail is a bit rufous but not anything like Dorian's nice image of a Hermit . To me the tail shows more brownish rufous then reddish rufous.
If it is a lifer for you, you might want to consider sending copies of your images together with your observations about the lack of tail bobbing to the ornithology dept at the Smithsonian Institute or Cornel University, perhaps they can give you a positive ID. Should you decide to follow up with either of agencies I would be interested to receive a PM on the answer, Good luck.Alan...Show more →
Thanks, Alan. I will just catalog it as a Hermit/Swainson's Thrush.
