Mystery Bird photographed at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Anahuac, Texas, USA. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 18 November 2010 [velociraptorize].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
This reclusive bird closely resembles another similar (much smaller) species that it hybridises with when their ranges overlap, leading some ornithologists to think of them as subspecies instead of full species. But this mystery bird differs from its sister species in several important ways. Can you name this mystery bird along with its close relative?
Daily Mystery Bird Rules:
1. This is a game, not a testosterone-driven competition designed to crush one's fellow birders/twitchers into the muck of disappointment, despair and humiliation. It is meant to be a learning experience where together we can learn a few things about birds and about the process of identifying them (and maybe about ourselves, too).
2. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification, keeping in mind that more than one field mark is often necessary to distinguish between species. IDs without any supporting information are not valid and may be deleted by the moderators.
3. Expert and intermediate level birders: do NOT try to be the first to blurt out the mystery bird's ID. Instead, please provide helpful hints, such as descriptions, literary references, puns, personal anecdotes, and other forms of discussion and assistance for beginning birders and for those following on their iPhones without naming the species. Expert and intermediate birders are free to name the bird species 24 or more hours after it was first published.
4. Each mystery bird is usually accompanied by a question or two. These questions can be useful for identifying the pictured species, but may instead be used to illustrate an interesting aspect of avian biology, behaviour or evolution, or may be intended to generate conversation on other topics, such as conservation or ethics.
5. Each bird species will be demystified approximately 48 hours after publication. (Yes, I do my best with this.)
If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and (mostly) appreciative audience, feel free to email them to me for consideration.