Unidentified Flying Dinosaur: Bunches of Beautiful Birbs

You’re in for a treat, my darlings! Ken Gibson has given us the keys to his birding kingdom, and I have selected several delights for your identifying pleasure. I’ve linked each photo to the maclargehuge original for ye.

First up, a birb that’s just screaming for a caption:

Image shows two gray-brown birds sitting on a fir branch. They have soft bellies and darker wings. The one in the middle of the shot is looking toward the camera and has its beak wide open, showing its tongue.
UFD I. Image credit Ken Gibson. Used with permission.

Next up, a little birb that has a nom in its beak:

Image shows a little bird clinging to the side of a wire feeder filled with seed. It has a round white seed clutched delicately in its beak. It has gray-white feathers round its eye, a yellow chest, and slate gray back with white swirls on the wings.
UFD II. Image credit Ken Gibson. Used with permission.

Pretty sure it’ll be a super-easy ident for you, but I couldn’t resist that adorable pose.

Next, we have a sweet little birb dining in:

Image shows a small bird with a gray chest, gray and black collar, and brown back perched on a blue bird feeder and having a nibble from one of the ports.
UFD III. Image credit Ken Gibson. Used with permission.

And, finally, an uber-cute birb who’d like everyone to know its opinion of this dining establishment:

Image shows a yellow-chested, tan-bellied, slate-backed bird walking head-first down a wire feeder with its beak open, its tongue wagging.
UFD IV. Image credit Ken Gibson. Used with permission.

I love Ken’s bird photography! Thank you so much for letting us borrow some of your beauties, Ken!

If any of you have UFDs you’d like to share, send them to dhunterauthor at gmail.

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Unidentified Flying Dinosaur: Bunches of Beautiful Birbs
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9 thoughts on “Unidentified Flying Dinosaur: Bunches of Beautiful Birbs

  1. rq
    1

    Birbs II and IV are nuthatches.
    Birb I is the Great Grey Yelling Bird. Probably looking for Allan.
    First thought for Birb III was female cardinal. But the black markings on the chest make me have doubts, and I think the beak is a bit narrow for a cardinal, though it’s difficult to tell at that angle.

  2. 3

    Bird 3 is a young male house sparrow as his black eye mask is just starting to appear and the black bib on his chest is rather sparsely marked. Bird 4 is a nuthatch of some sort but I am sadly unfamiliar with a lot of North American birdlife.

  3. 4

    Yep, Birbs I and III are House Sparrows, while Birbs II and IV are White-breasted Nuthatches. I love nuthatches, which I tend to think of as honorary wrens.

  4. rq
    6

    Clearly, Vladimir, being so close to Estragon’s rear, is still in the hacking phase of fart-response. I don’t think he has any doubts about who did it.

  5. 7

    Not sure about 1, but agree three is a house sparrow. Known to most Americans as an English sparrow. Best I can do for 1 is “LBF”, for LIttle Brown Finch.

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