/r/whatsthisbird
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:
Many thanks to stabberthomas for the fantastic header.
/r/whatsthisbird
455,225 Subscribers
What is this bird flying(Taipei Airport)
23:30 UTC
Bird ID, Goiânia, Brazil
23:02 UTC
Seen in the fjords of Troms, Norway.
I think it's very beautiful.
22:47 UTC
California, San Diego county, is this a Chukar?
Never seen one here before, seems to like our black walnut tree.
22:22 UTC
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.
22:22 UTC
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!
22:01 UTC
Loons? Beaverton OR
Saw a couple of them diving under the pond.
21:45 UTC
Bird ID please -Northern California
21:15 UTC
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.
20:41 UTC
Bird ID Please - Eastern NYC
19:26 UTC
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.
18:43 UTC
Feather ID
I'm having some trouble identifying this feather. I'm located in the Northern US. Any help is much appreciated!
18:23 UTC
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.
18:07 UTC
Orchard Oriole F ? [Nashville TN July 2020]
14:56 UTC
Red-shouldered hawk? Central California.
14:41 UTC
Northern Thailand
13:15 UTC
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!
11:43 UTC
Hawk that was super far away in Chiang Mai, Thailand
08:02 UTC
Marche, Italy
Along Esino river in Marche, Italy
07:04 UTC