/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
426,333 Subscribers
Woke up by that sound
15:46 UTC
Woke up by that sound
15:45 UTC
Baby bird help (Ohio)
15:38 UTC
Baby birds nest advice
Hello!!! I live in southeastern Texas, and yesterday when on my patio noticed a birds nest in one of my lawn chairs. I moved the chair before realizing it and did open it up a bit more than it was before, but didn’t move it far from where it originally was.
I have not seen a mother bird come back to check on the babies since, and they are making no noise at all (no chirping, but they are breathing and moving a bit). They seem to be very young, their eyes aren’t open and they have no feathers from what I can tell.
Should I be concerned about these birds and start looking for wildlife rehabs to take them to? I am leaving them alone and not messing with the nest currently so that the mother will come back, but is it a warning sign if they are not chirping?
15:15 UTC
What is this bird often found in Japanese media
You can hear the bird call in this video clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FfcaBOX0XA&t=10833s
The clip is from a Fishing game, but I heard this sound often before. It is usually associated with nightfall.
15:02 UTC
Who is this guy? He was on the feeder with mostly house sparrows.
Looks similar to a female house sparrow, but the colors are different and white streak on its face is more pronounced. It’s also slightly larger.
14:53 UTC
Knox County, ME
14:38 UTC
Is this a teenage brown-headed cowbird? Or….
13:57 UTC
fledgling in Slovakia?
he was on the hot pavement. we only picked him up to move him to the shade 2m away and then let him be
13:31 UTC
Found this poor bird deceased in my yard this morning
In eastern PA, unfortunately found this bird deceased in my yard this morning and looking for an ID. Not sure what happened to him. Is he a fledgling?
13:29 UTC
Bird ID help
Seen in Essex County, MA.
13:26 UTC
what bird is this
found this guy hanging around on my pot
07:07 UTC
Above my Stoop this morning
Kansas City Missouri
12:54 UTC
Wandered into my friend’s garage. [UK]
12:51 UTC
Bird ID please?
12:16 UTC
Walked right up on this fledgling accidentally (they weren't happy about it)
In Saskatchewan near a lake.
10:57 UTC
What’s this bird
10:03 UTC
Say’s Phoebe (PHX)?
I feel useless with flycatcher and kingbird species because I’m colorblind (red blind, specifically). I also thought it could be an ash-throated flycatcher or even vermillion?
07:53 UTC
What is this little guy? Was too fast to get a good angle (Zagreb)
07:51 UTC
Seen flying at night in NYC in March.
I saw this bird flying in an alley in NYC late at night. Very long beak, large eyes, and the size of a small chicken. Short neck and round body. Clumsy flier. I have never seen anything like it
06:41 UTC
Just outside of Bangkok by the sea.
06:23 UTC
Unknown call in Seal Rock, CA today
Merlin had no suggestions, Birdnet suggested pigeon guillemot, which actually seems possible even if they're not common in the area. I initially thought it was a juvenile something just based on the sound, so I wanted to eliminate that too before jumping to conclusions.
Apologies for the poor quality. I was recording on a windy public pier. I also never actually saw this bird (obviously) but I could hear that it was moving around overhead and sometimes beneath the pier.
06:10 UTC
Bird of the PNW (Northwest Oregon)
I cannot get a good photo of this bird as it likes to perch at the top of the Douglas Firs on my property. Physical features include a small to medium size bird. The overall color of this bird is gray to a light brown I believe gray, the underside looks to be gray. The tail plumage on the top side looks to be orange tinged. This bird while in flight looks to be shaped as an airplane or boomerang with its wings angled back. While in flight its wing beats are short and fast. I would say it’s call is the most defining it has a short higher pitched call that it repeats for what seems like hours on end.
05:41 UTC
Sitting on the sidewalk barely moving, Location: SG
Is it injured? It's barely moving even with people walking past it, and is just standing there blinking. Should I do something? It is raining rn, so it's wings might be wet idk
04:53 UTC
Bird in my yard hanging out
What do the experts say? I have no idea. Phoenix arizona
04:24 UTC