Identify This Bird?

[auntiehill]

I know, I know, the picture is crap. There is a very steep decline between my neighborhood walking path and the pond, so I can't get too close. These birds love our big pond; there's a piece of old fencing that they rest on. When the water level is high, it looks like the birds are standing on water.

Being an animal lover, I enjoy watching all the birds; we've had gulls, egrets , whistling ducks, pelicans, and even an ibis now and then. I haven't been able to get a look at these large dark birds because they usually stay at the far side of the pond and my little binoculars/opera classes just don't cut it. I think these mid/large birds are cormorants. When they swim, you can only see a tiny part of their backs and their necks are s-shaped. They dive under the water and can under for a long time. They will sometimes sit on that bit of fencing and hold out their wings, drying them in the sun.

Any bird-watchers out there?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I know we've gone over the "gray heron sometimes looks more blue than the blue heron" thing.

I'm not sure that one has a heron length neck. I was gonna guess maybe a Little Blue Heron, but they don't have the tail feathers like that (neither does the great blue heron). Anhingas and cormorants have that kind of tail, but I don't see one of those in the gray or blue color.

 

[auntiehill]

I think it looked darker in person than in that photo, so I'm thinking cormorant or anhinga, but I've never seen a dark colored anhinga.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I think it looked darker in person than in that photo, so I'm thinking cormorant or anhinga, but I've never seen a dark colored anhinga.

A google search comes up with some black and blue anhingas, though not sure which ones would be wherever you live.

Is the bill hooked or straight? Cormorants seem to generally have a hooked (downward) bill and anhingas bills are straight.

I've tried https://www.birdforum.net/ once or twice when I was stumped.

 

[JD]

My mom and I have seen the same birds out by a pond where we walk the dogs sometimes, but neither of us are sure what they're called.

 

[auntiehill]

A google search comes up with some black and blue anhingas, though not sure which ones would be wherever you live.

Is the bill hooked or straight? Cormorants seem to generally have a hooked (downward) bill and anhingas bills are straight

I've tried https://www.birdforum.net/ once or twice when I was stumped.

The bill looks very straight. Maybe it's a dark colored anhinga--if there is such a thing!

Saw a photo on the website https://www.sacramentoaudubon.org/kids-corner/meet-the-double-crested-cormorant

I think I'm going with cormorant.

 

[JD]

Yeah, I think that was what my mom and I decided our birds might be too.

 

[Malicia]

Why do birds suddenly appear at about 4am and sing for 20 minutes before going silent until later in the morning? I like to think it's because they decide it's too bloody early so they all go back to bed for a few more hours of shuteye.

 

[JD]

I keep hearing some kind of bird with a call that almost sounds like a high pitched "hehehe" laugh, and I have no idea what kind of bird it is. I heard it again coming from a tree I was walking under today while I was walking home from visiting some horses near my where I live, but I couldn't see who was making it.

 

[Starbreaker]

Cormorant. I have a heron that visits the creek beside my house every year and I always enjoy watching it. It just waddles up and down the street.

 

[auntiehill]

I keep hearing some kind of bird with a call that almost sounds like a high pitched "hehehe" laugh, and I have no idea what kind of bird it is. I heard it again coming from a tree I was walking under today while I was walking home from visiting some horses near my where I live, but I couldn't see who was making it.

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[Ar-Pharazon]

I posted this in the animals thread a while back, but I got some pics of this Cooper's Hawk outside my building last year. I posted on the birdforum to be sure what it was.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Cormoran is what my first thought was. But it's tricky to identify when it's not native to the area.

I've been using a pretty neat app called Merlin which is run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. It's fun to use during a hike and having the app listen to the sounds and see what it identifies. You can also submit photos for it to indentify, and it uses AI in both methods.

 

[auntiehill]

Cool! I had never heard of that before

 

[Finn]

Been a while since my bird thread was active.

Yeah, that's a tough photo.

Texas has three "Snakebirds" from what I'm reading.

Neotropical Cormorant

Double-Crested Cormorant

Anhinga

I'm going with Anhinga

 

[Owain Taggart]

Cool! I had never heard of that before

It's awesome. It's one of those apps I feel mobile devices were born for. Seems to be pretty accurate as well. If there are a number of different birdcalls, it will identify them all within the recording. The app will automatically record the time and location, and even show you pictures linked to their database.

 

[JD]

I've come across the Merlin app before, but I didn't know it could do that. I might have to download it.

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Yeah, that first call sounds like it might be it. I think that's what it is, thanks.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I've come across the Merlin app before, but I didn't know it could do that. I might have to download it.

I think it's still a relatively new feature that was introduced last year due to the advancements in AI. I was made aware of the app around May last year, and at that point it was already a feature.

 

[Malicia]

For the last week every time I go in to the garden a pigeon lands next to me and seems much more trusting than your average pigeon. It's always alone and has a blue tag on its leg so my mum thinks it's a racing pigeon that's lost or tired but it's huge and will scoff down any food in sight so if it is a racing bird it can't be a very good one or is in a heavyweight division. A few days ago it tried to land on my head so I'm not sure if it's trying to communicate or if it's just doing the rounds begging for food but it appears in good health. I think it's tagged by a science group rather than racing or homing but strange how it's always alone and more trusting than usual.

 

[Victoria]

It's pretty unusual for pigeons except for racers to be tagged. They tend to be too common for people to be interested in tagging them for research purposes.
Racing pigeons do get lost from time-to-time. Usually they hang around for a short time (up to a week) and then continue their journey. If there's plentiful food then they may just stay (and they may get fat, particularly if the "plentiful feed" is bread rather than seed!). As racers are used to be handled, they will be more friendly. You could try catching it, reading the ring number and reporting it.