What Bird Is That Forum

As of February 2026, the Virginia Rail remains one of my top nemeses that I haven't photographed, with 43 observations.

What's your worst?

My most needed photo target is Western Screech-Owl. 43 observations on ebird (plus a ton that I haven't ebirded), and I've never managed more than a glimpse of one flying away. I also don't have any pictures of Least Bittern, which is also pretty bad.

As far as nemesis birds that would be lifers go, my most needed birds (weighted towards things that can be found out west as vagrants) are American Tree Sparrow, Cape May Warbler, Zone-tailed Hawk, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Hudsonian Godwit, and Short-tailed Albatross. It's getting pretty hard to add new birds!

Up until recently it was Leconte's Sparrow but then got the one attached. Most wanted now are probably Swallow-tailed Kite or Anhinga. Both are tough in NJ but not impossible.

I don't have true nemesis birds, in the sense that I've tried to see them repeatedly and keep missing.

What I do have is a list of birds from an old family copy of the ever-popular Golden 'Guide to Field Identification - Birds of North America', the edition with the buntings on the cover. Dad bought it sometime in the mid- to late '60s, either before or when we lived in Upper MIchigan. In the index we checked off the species we saw as a family over multiple states and a couple of decades.

But there are no dates, locations, or other details! With so little information, I didn't list them in eBird even as 'Historical'. I've since reseen and documented most of the birds that are marked in the book but there are ten left I want to list 'properly'.

Snowy Owl
Ring-necked Pheasant
Trumpeter Swan
American Woodcock
American Flamingo
Band-tailed Pigeon
Verdin
Bullock's Oriole
Golden Eagle
Yellow-headed Blackbird

I've only ever seen one Scarlet Tanager, a beautiful male, and I wasn't able to get a photo, that would probably be mine.