Photo Courtesy of Andy Bankert
Congratulations to all who responded! This bird is indeed a Red Knot. Medium-length bill, rounded body, and overall gray color are a few key field marks, in addition to those mentioned in your comments. The photo was taken in Brevard County, FL in December.
Western Kingbird.
A key in this puzzle is the location. This bird is obviously a large flycatcher or kingbird. There are only 2 in Florida in December: Western Kingbird and GC Flycatcher. The tail doesn’t have as much brown, thus leaving Western Kingbird as the only answer.
Happy Birding,
Ali Iyoob
The new photo quiz picture was not taken in December. I meant that the previous quiz-the Red Knot- was taken in December. Sorry for any confusion. Good reasoning though 😉
Saraiya
GRAY KINGBIRD As Ali said, we have a large flycatcher. In my opinion, the only “large” flycatchers that could match are the phoebes, Myiarchus flycatchers, and kingbirds. The phoebe’s bills are too thin to be possible, and the Myiarchus flycatcher’s head pattern does not match the “masked” appearance shown by the quiz bird. That leaves us with the kingbirds, of which there are 8 species in the ABA area, excluding the Scissor-tailed and Fork-tailed Flycatchers. The four “yellow-bellied” kingbirds — Tropical, Couch’s. Cassin’s, and Western — have backs that are too greenish. Some of them can also be eliminated based… Read more »
Gray Kingbird sounds like a good choice. The only other option being Loggerhead and as Marcel pointed out, that species would look more like an Eastern Kingbird.
The reason I give only two options, is that the massive bill of this bird rules out all but 3 species of Kingbird. Loggerhead and Thick-billed are out because of plumage differences. Which in turn leaves only 1 species that fits this bird.
Considering the picture wasn’t taken in December, Gray Kingbird is the most likely option.
Happy Birding,
Ali Iyoob
I also think it is a GRAY KINGBIRD. This backside of this large looking flycatcher is overall gray with a white throat, with a tinge of brown on the tail and wings. Those field marks rule out Great-crested Flycatcher, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and Dusky-capped Flycatcher. Now we are left with kingbirds . . . Eastern is too dark; Thick-billed has too thick of a bill; Cassin’s has too dark of a head and tail, and too short of a bill; Western has too dark of a tail and too short of a bill; Tropical and Couch’s have greenish backs;… Read more »