A Dubious Decision
Submitted by member and very good-maybe excellent-birder, George Sayler
Birders are prone to demur when asked how good they are at identifying their sightings. “Oh, just so so.” “I’m not really that good.” Well, I can identify some birds, but….” And so it goes. Well here’s my truth: I am not an expert birder, sometimes not even very good. I just like to say I’m experienced. I still misidentify birds, and sometimes just can’t make up my mind about what I am looking at. A recent trip to the famed Magruder Corridor that bisects central Idaho wilderness provides a perfect example.
Traveling slowly along the narrow and rugged road we encountered several unfamiliar grouse species. I was able to examine them closely and then get a few decent photos to help with later identification. Later identification proved elusive! After comparing my photos to photos from five different bird guides, I made the dubious decision to call them Dusky Grouse and not Spruce Grouse. They seemed to be females and both species’ females looked very much alike, Perhaps I cast my vote for Dusky because it meant a life bird, whereas I had seen a male Spruce Grouse before!
Later, a similar scenario presented a very challenging hawk identification. We had already identified several immature Red-tailed Hawks which were marked differently than what we see here. Then a different hawk showed up with different but similar markings. Again, much detailed study left me confused, thinking it was a variation of the same species, but with no rusty red showing in the tail. Or could it be a dark morph Swainsons. I didn’t decide, instead I did a smart thing: I sent the photos to Ted, our chapter president and all-around birding expert, to identify!
My caution with tricky bird identification dates back many years, when I told our pre-eminent birder, Shirley Sturts, that I had recently seen a new life bird: a White Fronted Goose. She tactfully questioned me as to where it was, what it looked like, and so on, until I realized I was wrong. It was a species of a domestic goose. Not the way a fairly new birder wants to impress an expert veteran.
News flash – bird identification is not an exact science! It is often very difficult for novice birders, and sometimes very difficult for even the experts. I think that is ok. The joy comes with just seeing new birds, and not so much the challenge to be able to identify them. We are not in a contest to see if we can identify every bird we see.
Remember though, it is much more worthwhile to see birds, identify them when we can, and just enjoy their presence when we can’t, than it is to get frustrated when we cannot tell what they are.
Fortunately, I was able to identify which species of grouse it was. I think.
