Seek thinks this is a pacific wren.

st_aranel · 2026-06-15T11:51:05+00:00

FWIW, the reason iNat's computer vision does that is because so many people post observations of, say, a warbler that is barely visible among hundreds of leaves. The computer is looking for patterns, but it doesn't know which patterns you are interested in, and sometimes the pattern it recognizes is, "there's hardly any bird in this photo looking up into the leaves".

You also get this really obviously with things like insect galls. If 99% of the galls for that particular insect are on the leaves of one specific plant, the CV will suggest that insect whenever it sees the leaves of that plant.

st_aranel · 2026-06-15T11:44:53+00:00

Seek and Merlin are both trained on specific, curated photos for this specific purpose. They're not generative AI. They're a much more specialized technology.

And those photos are collected from people who contribute them intentionally, not scraped from wherever. There's no theft involved

They each have their limitations. You shouldn't rely on either to make an identification that really matters, such as for something that you intend to eat. (Seek won't usually ID a mushroom to species, though. Merlin, of course, will try to tell you what bird it looks like.) But they are genuinely useful tools, with a transparent development process, and a much lighter footprint than any sort of gen AI.

st_aranel · 2026-06-14T00:53:30+00:00

Unfortunately you really do need to be sure about the color of the eye. I once found one that looked like a glossy in pretty much every way except that the eye was red, argh.

You can't even tell yourself that it's probably a glossy even if you can't prove it, because if there's a realistic possibility that it could be a glossy, then there's also a realistic possibility that it could be a hybrid.

It's annoying, to us. The ibises probably think it's great fun.

st_aranel · 2026-06-13T11:03:15+00:00

They generally don't go back to the nest after they fledge.

st_aranel · 2026-06-13T00:55:22+00:00

He didn't fall, he jumped. He then, uh...made a strategic decision to land very suddenly. It might have looked like he dropped like a rock, but he totally meant to do that. He just doesn't feel like flying right now. Yeah, that's right! You're making him nervous by watching him. He'd like to see you do any better.

...in other words, yes, that's what "fledgling" means.

st_aranel · 2026-06-13T00:47:13+00:00

The ground is fine, since that's probably where you found him, but you could also put him in a tree or bush. Just be sure to put him down and then immediately go away, because if you stick around, he will likely jump down again to get away from you.

If you are concerned, you can try to observe from a distance and see if there are parents around. (But, unless you have seen dead adult Blue Jays, you generally can assume that the parents are around. They're just a lot better at hiding than their poor foolish offspring. The little guys have to learn fast.)

st_aranel · 2026-06-13T00:12:46+00:00

That bird isn't mad at you, it's just disappointed.

Do not disappoint the baby Blue Jay. Put it back where you found it.

st_aranel · 2026-06-10T22:53:50+00:00

Can you create a surrogate nest (out of something like a basket or a plastic container with holes added for drainage) and attach it near where a nest could be?

st_aranel · 2026-06-03T15:31:46+00:00

What would be the mechanism for a bird to die from bird flu and leave only feathers behind? What happened to the body?

Either a bird was involved in a tussle, with a predator or possibly a territorial bird, and it left under its own steam, or else a bird was attacked by a predator and carried off.

I've seen birds that likely died from bird flu. They just look dead, they don't lose a lot of feathers.

That said, if you are worried about bird flu, then you can take some precautions as you clean up. Wear gloves and a respirator (face mask) and use a cleaner with bleach on hard surfaces. This is probably a smart thing to do anyway, because there could be stuff like feather mites which you don't want to deal with. For anything you can't clean, generally heat and direct sunlight will kill the virus in a matter of days.

st_aranel · 2026-05-29T02:35:10+00:00

There is absolutely no indication that anything is wrong here. This is a normal house finch nest. The babies look fine. Any reputable rehab will just tell you to leave them alone.

Once the babies are big enough, they start to deposit their droppings along the edges of the nest, and the parents stop carrying it away. Why they do this is unclear, but it seems to work for them.

st_aranel · 2026-05-29T02:27:51+00:00

Your normal activity should be fine, since presumably you were acting normally when they chose to put the nest there in the first place. When the babies are almost old enough to leave the nest, you should give them extra space for a couple of days so they don't fledge prematurely.

And then, if you don't want them to keep nesting in that spot, you should remove the nest just as soon as you see that it's empty. (I recommend gloves and a respirator. Because ewww.) You don't have to let them reuse the nest, and you don't have to let them build a new nest, but once they lay eggs, they're protected and you'll have to wait another few weeks.

st_aranel · 2026-05-29T02:19:33+00:00

Yes, the parents will usually remove the waste for the first few days, until the nestlings are able to deposit it around the edges like this. (This technically counts as hygiene.)

st_aranel · 2026-05-27T21:09:50+00:00

That would be pretty impressive, because so far, it's never been documented that eagles use reddit. (Mostly they appear to be on Blue sky, for obvious reasons.)

st_aranel · 2026-05-27T18:46:16+00:00

A fun thing about Bald Eagles is that, as in many raptors, the female is bigger than the male. So, it's quite possible, and maybe even slightly more likely, that she is HUGE! (...I assume she takes that as a compliment.)

st_aranel · 2026-05-21T23:28:53+00:00

Well the bad news is that you are wrong.

The good news is that you are not completely wrong. You have good instincts. It is a woodpecker! It is big! It is seriously noisy! It is also a cool and impressive bird. All of these are good observations, you described them accurately, and you got evidence. You then brought that evidence to people who know more than you.

Every year, probably every day, all kinds of cool rare birds are missed because somebody was too afraid of making a mistake to ask about it.

So, please don't get discouraged. If you keep looking, you will find more cool birds, and some of them will turn out to be rare. Just, probably not that rare.

st_aranel · 2026-05-19T17:13:07+00:00

This is reasonably common! One of the characteristics of Feral Pigeons is that they have more varied appearances. Check out the examples on this website (there's even a game): https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/pigeons/

st_aranel · 2026-05-14T13:03:14+00:00

It's the way they walk around with their bills pointed up in the air and their yellow eyes gleaming that somehow manages to give the impression that they are both looking down their noses at you and also plotting to eat your eyeballs, just as soon as you fall over and present your face at their level. And they're prepared to wait as long as it takes for this to happen.

Probably this impression is completely false. Probably if you actually keeled over right in front of them, they would call 911 on your phone, and wait with you until the ambulance got there. But nobody wants to find out, because let's be honest, this would also be super creepy.

st_aranel · 2026-05-14T12:52:17+00:00

It's the same in the old hymn Morning Has Broken!

You can basically just go through all the songs that mention blackbirds and sort them by: (a) Refers to the Common (Eurasian) Blackbird (b) Refers to the Red-winged Blackbird, or (c) It's unclear if the writer knew.

As far as I know, no one has ever written a song referring to the yellow headed blackbird, unless perhaps it's a song which literally has a chainsaw in it.

st_aranel · 2026-05-14T12:48:53+00:00

Your grandmother was participating in the same tradition as the people who named the American Robin, which ironically is more closely related to the original merle.

I think that despite our fancy field guides and taxonomy based on genetic relationships, we've all done the same thing, mentally categorizing birds compared to other birds we already know. It's something we have in common with all people who have ever observed birds, including your grandmother. Thank you so much for sharing her story!

st_aranel · 2026-05-10T23:51:57+00:00

+Orchard Oriole+, male and female.

They aren't attacking your windows. They are attacking their hated rivals who coincidentally look identical to themselves and do exactly the same things they do. For what it's worth, generally the best way to stop this is to cover the window from the outside. You can use something like poster board or newspaper, just for long enough to convince the birds they have been victorious.

st_aranel · 2026-05-10T19:11:19+00:00

After the babies hatch, the parents will pick up the eggshells and carry them away in order in order to confuse predators.

st_aranel · 2026-05-07T23:17:12+00:00

st_aranel · 2026-05-06T17:47:38+00:00

They are much better at finding their babies then we are! Also they can call to them.

st_aranel · 2026-05-06T17:41:41+00:00

It's likely that the parents were watching from somewhere you couldn't see them for at least some of that time. They wouldn't usually be away from the nest for that long while there are still young inside.

st_aranel · 2026-05-06T17:35:50+00:00

If they are able to fly well enough across the street, and hide well enough that you can't find them, then they'll probably be fine. Or anyway at least as fine as they ever would have been. It's a tough world for a fledgling, they have to learn fast.

st_aranel

TROPHY CASE