What Bird Is That Forum

Eastern screech-owl - grey morph - Celery Farm, NJ by stevebruenjes, on Flickr

Screech owl Estero Llano Grande State Park 3-30-21

Screech Owl Estro Llano State park 3-21 by johnd1964, on Flickr

Charlie Spencer wrote: Sun Jun 21, 2026 11:21 am Eastern Screech Owl

My nemesis....

The Bird Nuts wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2026 3:29 am

Charlie Spencer wrote: Sun Jun 21, 2026 11:21 am Eastern Screech Owl

My nemesis....

Good morning (barely), Whatbirders. I had yard work to take care of before the heat index hit triple digits.

Bachman's Sparrow

Purple Finch

The guideline is only one photo per species per week, please. On those occasions when I name more than one species, you're welcome to post one photo of each species. Details and stories behind the photos are encouraged! No need to explain if you don't have photos of this week's birds.

For the record: I didn't have either one of last week's birds. Eastern Screech Owl is out of my range. Sage Thrashers are in Washington State, but I've not had the pleasure of seeing one.

I couldn't decide on which, a male or female Purple Finch. I have individual photos of each. I decided the female was the best shot, so here she is.

P4266513...purple finch by lonesome55dove, on Flickr

No sparrow & very few to choose from on the finch.

Purple Finch in a rare Alabama snowstorm in 2025

My not very purple, purple finch
Purple finch - male - Celery Farm, NJ by stevebruenjes, on Flickr

Bachman;s Sparrow
Oldsmar, FL
5/22/83


Purple Finch
Dallas, TX
1/13/78

A wet Purple Finch from back in April 2017
IMG_6739 by lonestranger102, on Flickr

Seen neither of these.
Purple Finch is my Nemesis I live well within its range but have never seen one
even at my feeders.

Very few photos of Purple Finch - had to go back to 2020.

Parker River NWR, MA. October 2018. https://ebird.org/checklist/S48927086

Lifer!

Happy Post-Independence Day, Whatbirders! Hopefully the fireworks have stopped ringing in your ears by now.

I think this week's bird has a wide enough distribution that we'll go with just the one species this week.

White-breasted Nuthatch

The guideline is only one photo per species per week, please. On those occasions when I name more than one species, you're welcome to post one photo of each species. Details and stories behind the photos are encouraged! No need to explain if you don't have photos of this week's birds.

White-breasted Nuthatch
Madera Canyon, AZ
4/30/75

Lots of photos to choose from this week. This photo of a White-breasted Nuthatch defending the feeders is from Aug 2015.

IMG_4989 by lonestranger102, on Flickr

This one was busy cleaning out the nest site in April, 2023.

White-breasted nuthatch - Garret Mountain Reservation, NJ by stevebruenjes, on Flickr

nope

Back in the game this week!

PB236927 white-breasted nuthatch by lonesome55dove, on Flickr

Northern Alabama

Good morning, Whatbirders. This week's first randomly selected bird shows a narrow distribution, so I added one reported to be scattered over most of the continent.

White-tailed Kite

Virginia Rail

The guideline is only one photo per species per week, please. On those occasions when I name more than one species, you're welcome to post one photo of each species. Details and stories behind the photos are encouraged! No need to explain if you don't have photos of this week's birds.

Virginia Rail
Ventura, CA
9/27/98

White-tailed Kite
Ventura, CA
7/13/96

I have a bunch of White-Tailed Kite photos, but my favorites were a series of one eating his supper. I have the whole process but here's an early part of the meal:

I've seen the rail lots of times but I only have five adult and four juvenile photos to choose from.This one from last year.

Seen the Kite but no pictures.