Do send in your good wildlife photos, as well as photos of yourself, with the latter for the “photos of readers” feature (we have only one left). We have several contributors today:
Reader pyers sent some bird photos, and I’ve indented his captions:
Nothing special but I was playing around with a new lens over the weekend ….
A chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs):
A great tit fledgling (Parus major) that looks as if it has been through a tumble drier 🙂
and a sunset ….
From Reader Bryan:
I submit a photo of a dragonfly (below). I’m confused when assigning the Latin binomial. It is suborder anisoptera. Location: northeast U.S.
Reader Amy Edmonds sent a mystery bird (can anyone identify it), as well as some ducks from her local pond, many of which appear to be hybrids between wild and domestic mallards, or even between wild mallards and other wild duck species. (She thinks some of these may be hybrids between wild mallards and a domesticated variety of them, Ancona ducks.)
Mystery bird. Please provide the ID:
I think the mystery bird is a Gray Catbird.
Dumetella carolinensis.
I second this.
I’ve recently been able to see the reddish tint under the tail of some docile catbirds.
Thirded.
I was thinking Brewers’ blackbird, but birds are not my thing.
Me too.
The dragonfly is a meadowhawk, genus Sympetrum. There are a few possible species but its very difficult to ID that level, really.
I believe the dragonfly is Ruby Meadowhawk (Sympetrum rubicundulum), but Cherry-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum internum) is very similar so I can’t make a definitive id. Other Sympetrum species are less likely, I think, based on appearance but, as Mark said, this genus does have a lot of look-alike species so it might be one of the other ones.
The first picture is not of a chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) but of a European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis).
You are right, it is a European goldfinch Carduelis carduelis. To complicate matters, that finch in some European countries (Holland and Belgium) is called the Thistle finch (for obvious reasons) or putter (for a traditional trick getting water out of a pit)
The ‘Goldfinch’ in those countries is the European bullfinch (Phyrrula phyrrula).
[The Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) is called the common finch or boekvink there]
A good example why the official latin names are such a good system.
In South Africa there are a whole different array of finches, waxbills, canaries and other related species.
The first picture is not of a chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) but of a European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis).
Yes, the first photo is the european goldfinch, and the second is the eurasian blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus. Even very young Parus major have a complete black cap including the eye and a black tie going down the belly.
To Amy Edwards: what is the general location where this was taken? It’s probably a catbird, though might not be, depending on location.
It’s an obvious catbird, there is not the slightest doubt.
Not necessarily. If it is in North America, I would say an obvious catbird, but if it is on another continent, no!
It’s a really good match, but the pix I see show a black cap on the head.
I agree that the first two are a goldfinch and a blue tit respectively. Since those are both European birds, I believe that the mystery bird is a common blackbird (turdus merula) – clearly not a full adult.
Have to be more careful typing my name on this. Too often I hit ‘a’ instead of the shift.
Not the greatest tit I’ve seen today, but still it’s pretty great.
Great photos, All! Thanks for sharing.
The gray bird was submitted by a different person, apparently from a different place. All gray with a (more or less) rusty butt — it’s a Gray Catbird. Eastern North America.
Hi where do find how to post images on readers photos
Use the email address on Jerry A. Coyne’s U. Chicago faculty homepage.
Thanks
Why dont i get reply to my question, i am asking in a nice way