Advice for identifying Townsend’s Solitaire
Distinguish Townsend’s Solitaire from visually similar species, Northern Mockingbird and Mountain Bluebird.
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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.
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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