While searching for colorful warblers migrating through the Upper Valley to Canada, I have “inadvertently” photographed a number of (mostly) brown birds that jumped in front of my lens. So I present brown birds to you as an identification quiz. How many of the following can you identify? No peeking.
On the top row we have three birds that look like thrushes. One of them is not a thrush but a warbler! This guy fooled me years ago before George Clark set me straight. Here they are with IDs.
In the second row we have two look-alike birds that are actually very different. One is a thrush and the other is a thrasher.
Moving to the third row we have three brownish gray birds that look similar. One is a mimic, one is a vireo, and one is a wren. Which is which?
The fourth row has a pair of flycatchers. The first is conspicuous by its bobbing tail and the second by its “che-bek” call.
The second-to-last row has another pair of dissimilar birds. One a sparrow and the other another flycatcher. The sparrow is uncommon in the Upper Valley in the spring. The flycatcher is noted for the white at the tip of its tail, which unfortunately does not show here.
Finally another two look-a-likes. Both are females of very colorful species. What are they?
Here are a dozen other photos I took of brown birds in the last six days. You should be able to identify them all now.
Almost all of these photos were taken in Hanover at the Mink Brook Sanctuary, in Lebanon along the rail trail at Ice House Road (Lane), in Enfield at the wonderful new Mascoma Lakeside Park, or in my back yard.
Perhaps my next blog will have some spring warbler photos. Stay tuned, or subscribe if you wish at the top right. It you subscribe, it is easy to get off the list at any time.