ID – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Ring-necked Duck And An Odd Lesser Scaup

By Mia McPherson|January 20th, 2024|Categories: Bird ID, Birds, Lesser Scaups, Ring-necked Ducks, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, Aythya affinis, Aythya collaris, diving ducks, duck, ducks, ID, idenitification, identification, key features, Lesser Scaup, male, odd, park, pond, possible hybrid, Ring-necked Duck, scaup, scaups, spur, spurs, urban, water, winter|

Seven days ago I found a Ring-necked Duck and an odd Lesser Scaup drake at my local pond. The scaup puzzled me and I wondered if he might be a hybrid.

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Nashville And MacGillivray’s Warblers – A Visual Comparison

By Mia McPherson|July 24th, 2021|Categories: Birds, MacGillivray's Warblers, Nashville Warblers, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, aphids, canyon, comparison, foraging, Geothlypis tolmiei, ID, identification, Leiothlypis ruficapilla, MacGillivray's Warbler, male, mountains, Nashville Warbler, perched, resting, riparian habitat, sky, summer, versus, warbler, warblers, willow, willow thicket, willows, wood-warblers|

In late summer I see Nashville and MacGillivray’s Warblers in the same locations and habitats foraging for the same food, aphids.

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Flocks of Phalaropes In Flight – But Which Species?

By Mia McPherson|July 26th, 2020|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Red-necked Phalaropes, Utah, Wilson's Phalaropes|Tags: bird ID, bird identification, comparison, flight, flocks, Great Salt Lake, hypersaline, ID, identification, Murmuration, phalarope, phalaropes, Phalaropus lobatus, Phalaropus tricolor, Red-necked Phalarope, saline lake, summer, Wilson's Phalarope|

It is the season of phalarope migration here in the Great Basin hub of the Pacific Flyway and one of the best places to view these shorebirds is along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.

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Calling Willow Flycatcher – Hearing FITZ-bew Clinched The ID

By Mia McPherson|May 31st, 2019|Categories: Birds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Willow Flycatchers|Tags: adult, blue sky, branches, call, calling, canyon, Empidonax traillii, Empids, FITZ-bew, flycatcher, flycatchers, ID, identification, perched mountains, two part call, Willow Flycatcher|

Because of a two part call, FITZ-bew, I had no trouble identifying a flycatcher that I saw, photographed and heard yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains as a Willow Flycatcher.

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Back View Of An Immature Female Northern Harrier Hovering

By Mia McPherson|February 24th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: back view, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, female, flight, flight feathers, harrier, harriers, hawks, Hawks of Utah, hovering, ID, immature, Northern Harrier, primaries, raptors, retrices, tail feathers, white rump, white uppertail coverts|

Would you be able to ID this hawk from just this image or similar view of it in the field if I hadn't already identified it in my title and my photo caption?

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Side By Side Prairie and Peregrine Falcon Comparison

By Mia McPherson|November 18th, 2017|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, comparison, Falco mexicanus, Falco peregrinus, falcon, falcons, heads, helmeted, ID, identification, key identification features, mustache stripes, perched, Peregrine Falcon, Prairie Falcon, raptors, snow, winter|

There are other differences in plumage between Prairie and Peregrine Falcons that show in my photos but by using just their heads it is possible to make a quick ID in the field.

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