Finally, a bird that's not a Green Heron !

[rafi1883]

<p>Hi Foks,<br>

So, it turns out that most of the photos of birds that I submitted for help in identifying were of Green Herons at various stages of growth. But now I've taken a photo of a bird that I can't begin to identify. Nothing in my Central Valley field guides looks familiar. </p>

<p>Could someone please tell me what this bird might be ?</p>

<p>Thank you !</p><div></div>

[ShunCheung]

<p>That is a green heron. :-)</p>

<p>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-crowned_night_heron</p>

[ron_moss]

<p>i like using whatbird dot com for bird id's</p>

[stemked]

<p>In my opinion, you can't beat a good ol' copy of Peterson's guide.</p>

<p>It's a Black-Crowned Night Heron.</p>

[Laura Weishaupt]

<p>Rafi,<br>

Remember that many birds look somewhat different when in breeding or non breeding plumage. They change with age from fledgling to adult, as you saw with the Green Heron. Your book may only have one view of a bird. A good field guide will point out these variations. I'm not suggesting that your local book isn't good, it just may be limited. I'm with Douglas on the value of a print field guide such as Peterson's or the small size Sibley. There are quite a few out there. They don't need batteries or an internet connection in the field. Plenty of folks use on line resources and love them. </p>

[kerry_grim]

Also consider National Geographic Field Guide...either eastern or western, appropriate to your area. I would suggest NOT purchasing a version that has eastern and western U.S., east or western version better especially for a non-expert as one that has eastern and western has too many choices.

 

As an aside, I recently asked my birding friends (about 30+ year experience) of their preferences. National Geographic was on top, followed closely by Sibleys Guides and then Petersons. Some books, particularly with photos (thinking mostly Audubon Society) are crap. Although each person's choices vary.

 

My preferences are for National Geographic simply because the book is laid out well, pages, easy to turn, quick index in the front flap, and even easy to page through, whereas other some books the pages don't separate as well. I guegs what I am trying to say is the usability is better than others...at least to me.

[ShunCheung]

<p>While my wife is a fairly serious bird watcher, my focus is photography. We have a number of those guide books mentioned above. However, she now uses an iPhone/iPad app: http://ibird.com/app/android/ibird-pro/</p>

<p>The app has bird calls in addition to images. She has it on her iPhone so that she has it around pretty much all the time.</p>

[don_baccus]

<p>In anticipation of your next question, it's an *adult* black-crowned night heron :)</p>

 

[Palouse]

<p>Cornell's Ornithology Lab has a site: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search.aspx<br>

or at their subscription site: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/<br>

Or look for their 'Merlin' iPhone app at the app store .</p>

<p> </p>