I identified a new bird today. Not only new here, but new ever. That's always exciting for a bird watcher. I noticed a small gray bird flitting around in the edge of the woods. My first thought was a warbler of some kind, but couldn't find anything like it in my book. So I pulled out another book. This one is older, and some of the birds have new names or ranges now based on more recent scientific info, but the illustrations are really good and comprehensive. It wasn't under warblers in this book either, but I began to thumb through the sections to see if anything else came close. There...Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. I cross-referenced in the newer book, and it can't be anything else.
The reason I never considered Gnatcatcher is that I've always thought of them (flycatchers) as bigger birds. This one was very small...warbler small. Here's where having a system to identify birds helps. You have to notice specific things about it. Not just size, color, and markings, but also behaviors. Tail movement, feeding method, etc. These can be very helpful. And you have to remember what you saw because the bird is probably long gone by the time you get to your books or the internet. As I'm going to my books, I repeat in my head over and over what I noted to keep the image fresh in my mind.
This is what I marked about this little bird. Blue gray above, light below, no breast or body streaking. Prominent white stripes on each side of dark tail, as well as a white stripe on outer flight feathers. It flicked and wagged its tail which was held upright like a wren. It also hovered briefly.
One book stated that no other gnatcatcher has the white edged tail. The other said it wagged its tail like a mockingbird. When I saw that, I thought to myself, yes, that's what I saw but being it was a small bird I immediately thought of the way wrens hold their tails. It didn't really mention hovering, but most flycatchers do to some extent.
When you get to your resource, you also have to pay attention to range. Highly unlikely to see a west coast bird in the southeast. You might be seeing a breeding or migration range. There's many birds I only see at certain times of the year. Here in the southeast, you'll often see spring or fall visitors, and they don't stay for long because they're on their way somewhere else.
We got a lot of rain the last 2 days, and it's still dreary. My gauge got 2". The sun is trying to come out but I don't know if it will make it today. At least it's cooled off. A lot! I was actually chilly this morning and needed long sleeves. Nice to shut off the AC and open windows. I really appreciate having central air, but I'd much rather have windows open, and do so whenever it's comfortable enough. For me, I'm comfortable at 80 degrees and that's what the AC is set at.
tnt
Natureschild
5 days ago
