/r/whatsthisbird

Photograph via snooOG

The place for your bird identification needs and challenges.

See something feathered but you just can't figure out what it is? Submit descriptions, audio, and/or visuals of unknown birds, eggs, feathers, or nests and we'll try to help! Be sure to include the location of the sighting when submitting.

Already know the ID of a tricky bird and want to see if others can guess it? Just include [CHALLENGE] in your submission's title.

Have you found a baby bird? PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE POSTING!

Have you found an injured bird? Use this link to find licensed wildlife rehabilitation near you.

Active nest guidelines: Keep your distance from a nest if a bird is currently on it. Keep your visit to a nest brief if eggs or hatchlings are inhabiting the nest.

Filter by UNSOLVED and help out some folks who still need IDs!

Want to find a bird conservation group in your country? Check out the list of international BirdLife partners.

RULES

1. Submit descriptions, audio, video and/or photos of unknown birds.

Unidentified eggs, feathers, nests, and bird artwork are all allowed here.

Media containing known species are better suited to r/birdpics, r/birding, r/ornithology, and others. Please respect each subreddit's rules when posting. Posts focusing on known birds will be removed at moderator discretion.

Know the ID of a tricky bird and want to see if others can guess it? That's allowed, too; just include [CHALLENGE] (with the brackets) in your post's title.

2. Include geographic location in ID requests.

The location of your sighting is extremely important when it comes to identifying the bird in question. Please include a reasonably precise geographic location to help us ID your bird.

3. No joke posts.

While we enjoy good humor, this is foremost an educational subreddit. Jokes in comments are acceptable, as long as they do not confound any legitimate IDs.

4. Tag images involving death or gore as NSFW.

Images containing death or gore (within reason; for example, stuffed specimens are exempt) must be tagged as NSFW.

A few handy ID guides to common North American birds:

American Crow vs Common Raven (and a couple other corvids)

Cooper's vs Sharp-shinned Hawk

Downy vs Hairy Woodpecker (plus bonus woodpeckers)

Juvenile Black-crowned vs Yellow-crowned Night-Herons

Which Dowitcher? Tips for distinguishing Short- vs Long-billed

Bird Doppelgängers series:

Bird Doppelgängers, Pt. 1 (Chickadees, white herons, and more)

Bird Doppelgängers, Pt. 2 (Haemorhous finches, Aythya ducks, gallinules and more)

Bird Doppelgängers, Pt. 3 (North American Sparrows)

Bird Doppelgängers ID Guides: Birds of Oceania (Australia, NZ, New Guinea, etc.)

Bird Doppelgängers: similar birds worldwide (Part 1) (Magpies, Small White Egrets and more)

Similar birds worldwide (Part 2) (Herons, tits, buteos, corvids, Passer sparrows)

Other bird-related subreddits:

r/ornithology - bird science

r/birding - bird watching

r/birdphotography - bird photos

More identification fun:

r/whatsthisbug

r/animalid

Many thanks to stabberthomas for the fantastic header.

/r/whatsthisbird

455,225 Subscribers

4

What is this bird flying(Taipei Airport)

9 Comments
2024/12/05
23:30 UTC

4

Bird ID, Goiânia, Brazil

3 Comments
2024/12/05
23:02 UTC

70

Seen in the fjords of Troms, Norway.

I think it's very beautiful.

12 Comments
2024/12/05
22:47 UTC

7

California, San Diego county, is this a Chukar?

Never seen one here before, seems to like our black walnut tree.

8 Comments
2024/12/05
22:22 UTC

9

Cooper’s hawk? NJ

Small, I’d say about the size of a blue jay? Cooper’s hawk is my best guess. I see red tailed hawks often, so I know it’s not that, but this is my first time seeing this cute little dude.

3 Comments
2024/12/05
22:22 UTC

8

Feathers 🪶

When I was a mail carrier, I would pick up cool feathers that I’d find whenever my hands weren’t too full. Some of these I know: red shafted northern flicker, blue jay, probably a crow. But I’d love to know what some of the others are! I live in Colorado (in an area where keeping chickens is not uncommon). Thank you so much!

11 Comments
2024/12/05
22:01 UTC

4

Loons? Beaverton OR

Saw a couple of them diving under the pond.

3 Comments
2024/12/05
21:45 UTC

3

Bird ID please -Northern California

2 Comments
2024/12/05
21:15 UTC

12

Can you help me identity the raptor?

I live in the north Tampa Bay Area in a conservation area development with 1/3 developed and the remaining protected lands. We have plenty of wetlands, waterbirds, and forested areas (as well as bobcats, wild boar, foxes, coyotes, deer, armadillos, alligators, snakes etc)

I was walking through the trails and saw these two feathers about 1/8th mile apart that seem to be from the same raptor of some sort. I’ve commonly seen Red Shouldered hawks (Swainson’s hawk?), Ospreys, and Swallow-tailed Kites, I’ve already ruled out the vultures but I’m not sure who is a contender for ownership of the lost feathers.

I would appreciate any potential ID’s for my further education. Thank you in advance.

4 Comments
2024/12/05
20:41 UTC

10

Bird ID Please - Eastern NYC

9 Comments
2024/12/05
19:26 UTC

3

Muscovy duck? Western Canada.

This pretty creature was spotted wandering in the shared front yard of a townhouse on my street. I have never seen a bird like this here so I think it might be someone's pet.

3 Comments
2024/12/05
18:43 UTC

5

Feather ID

I'm having some trouble identifying this feather. I'm located in the Northern US. Any help is much appreciated!

3 Comments
2024/12/05
18:23 UTC

3

Little stone guys

Kind of a weird one, but assuming these are based on a real species of bird... who are they? All the other bird statues seemed to be real species (Cardinals, titmouse, other popular birds for display) but I couldn't figure these out.

3 Comments
2024/12/05
18:07 UTC

4

Orchard Oriole F ? [Nashville TN July 2020]

2 Comments
2024/12/05
14:56 UTC

100

Red-shouldered hawk? Central California.

8 Comments
2024/12/05
14:41 UTC

13

Northern Thailand

2 Comments
2024/12/05
13:15 UTC

16

Spotted today in Carmarthenshire, UK (chowing down on some suet); is this a Common Starling's winter plumage, or a different bird altogether? Juvenile, maybe? Never seen this before!

4 Comments
2024/12/05
11:43 UTC

16

Hawk that was super far away in Chiang Mai, Thailand

2 Comments
2024/12/05
08:02 UTC

8

Marche, Italy

Along Esino river in Marche, Italy

3 Comments
2024/12/05
07:04 UTC

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