How to identify Virginia Rail
Use this advice from Kenn Kaufman to distinguish Virginia Rail from two similar species.
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Kenn Kaufman
Kenn Kaufman is an expert birder and naturalist, a talented artist and photographer, a world traveler, and the author of many books about birds and other wildlife. His column “ID Tips” appears in every issue of BirdWatching. Kenn is also a field editor for Audubon Magazine and a contributor to Birds and Blooms. His work first appeared in Birder’s World (now BirdWatching) in April 1988. Visit his website, Kaufman Field Guides.
Kenn Kaufman on social media
Advice for identifying Townsend’s Solitaire
Distinguish Townsend’s Solitaire from visually similar species, Northern Mockingbird and Mountain Bluebird.
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Identifying five specialty birds of Florida
Use these tips to identify species from the Sunshine State.
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Identifying Neotropic Cormorant and Double-crested Cormorant
Use these tips and photos to distinguish between these two similar cormorant species.
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Identifying Gadwall
Use these tips to classify one of the most widespread and least ornate duck species in the world.
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Identifying King Eider and Common Eider
Female and young male King Eiders are known to mix in with large flocks of Commons in winter, creating a challenge for birders.
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Identifying Orchard Oriole
Use these tips to differentiate female and juvenile Orchard Orioles from other oriole species.
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Identifying Snow Goose and Ross’s Goose
Use these tips to distinguish two geese species with overlapping breeding ranges.
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Identifying North America’s five titmouse species
Kenn Kaufman explains what to look for on these familiar and popular backyard birds.
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Winged wonders: Why birds have the power to lift us up
Why we need birds now — in times of extreme uncertainty — more than ever.
Identifying Wilson’s Phalarope
How to ID the various plumages of this most distinctive member of a unique group of shorebirds.
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Identifying Pygmy Nuthatch and Brown-headed Nuthatch
Use these tips to tell the difference between Pygmy Nuthatch and its close relative Brown-headed Nuthatch.
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Tips for identifying American Tree Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow shares similar traits to other sparrows. Use these tips to correctly identify it.
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Identifying Wandering Tattler and Spotted Sandpiper
Use these pointers to identify Wandering Tattler, a shorebird that is essentially a Pacific Coast specialty.
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Tips for identifying Lucifer Hummingbird
Kenn Kaufman shares what to look for when identifying Lucifer Hummingbirds.
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Identifying Snail Kite
Use these tips from Kenn Kaufman to spot Snail Kites.
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Tips for identifying Bell’s Vireo
With photographs from Brian E. Small, author Kenn Kaufman provides tips for identifying Bell’s Vireo.
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Identifying Williamson’s Sapsucker
How to distinguish this western woodpecker from Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Gila Woodpecker.
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Identifying Orange-crowned Warbler and Tennessee Warbler
Kenn Kaufman describes what to look for to identify the variable Orange-crowned Warbler and the similar Tennessee Warbler.
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Identifying Henslow’s Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, and Baird’s Sparrow
Kenn Kaufman explains how to identify the nomadic Henslow’s Sparrow and its close relatives Grasshopper and Baird’s Sparrows.
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Kenn Kaufman’s ode to the Henslow’s Sparrow
In the “ID Tips” column in the August 2018 issue of BirdWatching, Brian Small and I covered identification of Henslow’s Sparrow. As part of my … Read More “Kenn Kaufman’s ode to the Henslow’s Sparrow”
Identifying Blue Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting
How to tell these two easily confusable species apart.
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Identifying Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, and Cinnamon Teal
Kenn Kaufman explains how to differentiate female Blue-winged Teal from two other dabbling ducks: Cinnamon and Green-winged Teal.
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Identifying Black-capped Chickadee, Carolina Chickadee
Kenn Kaufman explains how to tell Black-capped Chickadee apart from Carolina Chickadee, and he offers tips for identifying Mexican and Mountain Chickadees
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Identifying Swainson’s Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and Hermit Thrush
Kenn Kaufman describes how to identify three lookalike thrushes: Swainson’s Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and Hermit Thrush.
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Eye opener: A colorful warbler in a gray city
A tiny warbler in a big city underscores the wonder of birds
Kenn Kaufman sets owl-finding record in southeastern Arizona
Where and how Kenn Kaufman and two other southern Arizona birders found 11 species of owl in one day