ShelbyDave wrote:
Ok, this is a tough one. At first I agreed with the Northern Rough-winged Swallow. But the stripes on the chest and the shape of the beak looked wrong in all the books I checked. (Stokes, National Geographic, Sibley, and Crossley ID Guide) I am going to propose another bird, see if you agree with me. First the shape of the beak is wrong for a Shrike. The hook referred to by another isn't the same on this bird and the coloring is all wrong. The Northern Rough-winged the beak is smaller and stops as soon as it hits the front of the head, plus I didn't see any stripes on the chest. So I kept looking and in the Crossleys I have (excellent bird book that I LOVE) I found an immature Purple Martin that seems to fill everything. The beak is the same, instead of the beak stopping at the front of the head it extends to almost under the eye. There is a dark patch extending behind the eye that looks the same to me, and the are brown markings on the chest. So I am going to ID it as a immature Purple Martin. Anyone else agree or have another opinion?
Ok, this is a tough one. At first I agreed with th... (
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I am sorry, the first thing I should have said was Great photos! I enjoyed looking at them