Elizabeth
Forum Replies Created
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This is a black-crowned night-heron. Note the stocky body, black cap, and black back with lighter belly and wings.
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@Annekathryn The recommendations for Massachusetts can be found here. While the do-not-feed recommendation has been lifted, Massachusetts suggests finding other ways to attract birds to your yard such as planting native plants, adding water features, and putting up bird houses.
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Hi Jerry, If you are just trying to avoid the mobile app but want to report to eBird, you can submit observations online. Go to https://ebird.org/submit and follow the prompts: choose a location, date, observation type, then the species you saw or heard.
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Forum moderator Lee Ann van Leer suggests:
"You can use eBird.org/explore to hone in on where large roosts are being seen in the winter. There is a place on eBird where you can look at the "high count" for a species in a certain state or at the county level. That will let you know where you can find an area to search for a large roost in winter. In some cities they frequent the same spot every night but in other areas the roots move around from place to place every night and even move to several spots during the course of the night. I was super lucky one year that the local crow roost of several thousands spent part of two nights at my house! That was amazing to listen to them yammering away much of the night and communicating with each other. I highly recommend when it is safe to travel, finding a crow roost some winter. It is a great experience."
Give that a try, and let us know if you find a crow roost! -
Hi William. Thank you for your concern about the birds. Connecticut lifted its do-not-feed recommendation in August, so you are good to go with feeding! Please find more details in a joint statement from the Lab of Ornithology and the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine here.
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@Annabeth As Laura mentioned, it is a duck, so we can start there. It has a black belly and chestnut chest, with a lighter wing stripe. These features tell us it is a black-bellied whistling-duck. Although Laura thought the legs were orange or yellow, in the photo they appear pink, which is also characteristic of the species. Hope this helps!
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The oldest crows were the 19 year olds. They have had four individuals reach 19.
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Dr. McGowan is good friends with Dr. John Marzluff at UW, but they have only co-authored one paper on crows. In 2020 the American Ornithological Union voted to absorb the Northwestern crow (Corvus caurinus) into the American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos).
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The boobook owls and barking owl are members of the Ninox genus of owls. There are more than 30 species of boobook. The barking owl, Ninox connivens, is related but a separate species.
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You can revisit course content at any time. Go to My Courses, then click on Growing Wild. Scroll down to view the Course Content. Click Expand All to choose the exact topic you want to view. From there you can answer the discussion question. Alternatively, you can go to the discussion board directly. Scroll down on the page and click on Join a Discussion Group. Click on the Growing Wild group, then find the topic you want to comment on. If you have additional issues please contact Customer Service.
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This looks like a Black-bellied Whistling-Duck. Usually they are found farther south, but their range is expanding northward. Very cool!
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Great news! Merlin now has a Sound ID feature. Click the "Get Sound ID" button when you open Merlin, or download the latest update. You can find more information here. Currently this feature is only available for birds in the US and Canada, but more species will be added over time.
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Hi Raizel, currently SnapID is only available in our courses, not elsewhere on the site.
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The best way for you to approach this is probably to think of some birds you are familiar with, then look up their size measurements and compare them to the four birds used in Merlin. Sparrows are about 12-17 cm, robins are 20-28 cm, crows are 40-53 cm, and geese are 76-110 cm. Saffron finches are 13.5 cm, so that is a good one for approximately sparrow-sized. Grassquits are smaller than sparrows. Ruddy ground doves are 16.5-18 cm, which is slightly smaller than a robin but is probably close enough. The goal of the size chart is not to figure out the exact measurement of your bird, just to get an approximate size. We're halfway there! Now just think of some medium and large birds you know, and continue the process. Once you have your four birds selected, the next time you use Merlin think of your own four when looking at the size chart to place your mystery bird. And of course if you get a photo you can upload that to Photo ID without answering the size question.
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The best way for you to approach this is probably to think of some birds you are familiar with, then look up their size measurements and compare them to the four birds used in Merlin. Sparrows are about 12-17 cm, robins are 20-28 cm, crows are 40-53 cm, and geese are 76-110 cm. Saffron finches are 13.5 cm, so that is a good one for approximately sparrow-sized. Grassquits are smaller than sparrows. Ruddy ground doves are 16.5-18 cm, which is slightly smaller than a robin but is probably close enough. The goal of the size chart is not to figure out the exact measurement of your bird, just to get an approximate size. We're halfway there! Now just think of some medium and large birds you know, and continue the process. Once you have your four birds selected, the next time you use Merlin think of your own four when looking at the size chart to place your mystery bird. And of course if you get a photo you can upload that to Photo ID without answering the size question.
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@Maureen You can upload your sound file to the Macaulay Library by submitting it on an eBird checklist. If you haven't used eBird yet, learn how to get started here. We also have a free eBird Essentials course! Learn about uploading media here. Then you can share the link to the file, if you'd like.
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To post images in a discussion, click on the "Insert Image" button located in the top left of the reply text editor (the box where you added your text), and then select an image from your computer or your phone.
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Unfortunately there is not a dedicated discussion forum for the Comprehensive Bird Biology course. You are welcome to post questions or comments about the course in the public forums.
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This looks like a female masked yellowthroat. Have you tried using Merlin Bird ID? It is a free app that identifies birds. There is even an option to identify birds from a photo, like this one.
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Hi Carol, To post images in a discussion, click on the "Insert Image" button located in the top left of the reply text editor (the box where you typed your comment), and then select an image from your computer or your phone. Then click the "Submit" button.