/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 photos 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 tag [CHALLENGE] posts.
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? Such posts, tagged with [CHALLENGE], are okay.
Please describe the situation as much as you comfortably can. At minimum, try to include the location and month of your observation.
Avoid Facebook links; Reddit automatically removes them.
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 Doppelgangers, Pt. 1 (Chickadees, white herons, and more)
Bird Doppelgangers, Pt. 2 (Haemorhous finches, Aythya ducks, gallinules and more)
Past AMAs:
Scott Whittle, The Terra Project, June 2021
Other bird-related sites:
r/ornithology - bird science
r/birding - bird watching
r/birdpics - bird photos
r/birdfacts - bird facts
More identification fun:
Many thanks to stabberthomas for the fantastic header.
/r/whatsthisbird
336,520 Subscribers
help with the crane that isn't a hooded crane, inland from Cheonsu Bay, South Korea
23:08 UTC
Is this a WEBL or MOBL? (Sultan, WA)
22:43 UTC
Sharp-shinned or Cooper's Hawk?
22:04 UTC
WTB South Florida. This girl chose to nest about 2 feet from my front door.
21:49 UTC
Southern New Jersey in March. Got this owl box for my friend. Didn't take long for this one to show up! The box is small, so I was expecting if anything it would be a screech owl but this doesn't necessarily look like a screech? Anyone feel confident?
21:19 UTC
(NE Connecticut) Some birds roughly the size of a red-winged blackbird in a marsh. Tree swallows were swarming the place as well. Apologies for the blurry picture, I noticed them after taking pictures of a kingfisher.
21:16 UTC
Just smacked into my window and killed another bird.
20:32 UTC
Not sure about this guy, never seen one before. Crested Caracara? SW FL.
20:31 UTC
Is this a Red Winged or Red Shouldered Black bird or something else? St Petersburg FL
20:27 UTC
What is this (Monte Carlo, Monaco)?
20:16 UTC
Are these domestic hybrids? San Antonio, TX
Disclaimer: my friend sent me the picture.
20:14 UTC
Pennsylvania, at a wildlife refuge
19:30 UTC
Tampa Bay
18:50 UTC
What is this bird? (India)
Found and released. Seemed to be fledgling
18:38 UTC
Picture I took over the summer want to know what species of gull this is (Port Washington, NY)
18:15 UTC
Just started showing up this morning. Shasta County (far Northern California) Only bird I have seen with these colors.
17:45 UTC
Is this some sort of Jackdaw? Location: Palestine
17:06 UTC
Location: Palestine
17:00 UTC