Question #1: Tufted titmouse
The tufted titmouse the most common of five titmouse species in the United States, with a range that stretches from the Great Plains to the Atlantic Coast. The tufted titmouse most closely resembles the black-crested titmouse, a resident of Texas, Oklahoma, and Mexico, which was considered a subspecies until the 21st century. What sets apart these two birds is the black-crested titmouse’s black crest that extends from the bill upwards. While the tufted titmouse does have a small black patch right above its bill, it is much smaller than that of its southern cousin.
Question #2: Spotted towhee
Eastern and spotted towhees are very similar in appearance. Males’ top halves are black with bronzed orange sides and white underbellies. Females are brown in spots that males are black. Their ranges barely overlap, with the eastern towhee’s range ending near the western boundaries of Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. The species’ ranges do mix a little bit in each state, with a bit more overlap in states like Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas. The spotted towhee can be distinguished from the eastern towhee by more prominent white spots on its back and wings. Eastern towhees may have some white coloration along the bottom edge of their wings, but it pales in comparison to the spotted towhee.
Question #3: Barn swallow
Of the North American swallows, three of them–barn, cliff, and cave swallows– have orange coloring in their head or throat areas. Barn swallows are the most common across the country, frequently seen acrobatically swooping through the air. Barn swallows can be easily differentiated in flight between other common swallows by their forked tail. Though they can be nearly impossible to see while the birds are quickly bolting through the air, adult cliff swallows also have pale patches above their bill and right above their tail that barn swallows do not.
Question #4: Red crossbill
The red crossbill’s key identifier is its unique bill shape, which crosses in a twisted fashion when closed, which is used to help the birds pull seeds from conifer cones. Bird watchers may confuse red crossbills with white-winged crossbills, but the latter’s black and white wings set them apart. Female crossbills are not red, but rather a dull yellow color.
Question #5: Eastern kingbird
Its name may say eastern, but the eastern kingbird’s range extends all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. The eastern kingbird is darker than the others listed here, with a dark head and back and a bright white color underneath. Its white-tipped tail is another strong identifier while out in the field.
Question #6: Red-winged blackbird (female)
Male red-winged blackbirds are easy to pick out, with their bold red wing patches contrasting sharply with their dark black bodies. Female red-winged blackbirds aren’t so easy. Females are smaller than males with a streaky dark brown pattern similar to sparrows. Red-winged blackbirds have a longer bill and tail and often yellow patches around the bill that can help to distinguish a female red-winged blackbird from sparrows. Finch bills set them apart from female red-winged blackbirds. Finches have a stocky, lighter-colored bill compared to the slender bill of the blackbird.
Question #7: Brewer’s blackbird
Male Brewer’s blackbirds like this one have pale yellow eyes, which can help narrow down your blackbird identification to rusty and Brewer’s blackbirds. Grackles may also have a similar eye color, but can usually be differentiated in other ways. Brewer’s blackbirds have a glossy sheen to their bodies with a head that’s almost purple in the right lighting.
Question #8: Hermit thrush
Unlike a wood thrush, the spots on a hermit thrush’s breast do not continue all the way down its underside. However, this doesn’t set the hermit thrush apart from Bicknell’s thrush and Swainson’s thrush. Swainson’s and Bicknell’s thrushes have tails the same color as their backs, while the hermit thrush’s tail is a more reddish color than the rest of its body. Bicknell’s thrushes lack the pale eye ring that hermit and Swainson’s thrushes have. The veery, while also similar, is a distinct reddish brown that sets it apart from other thrushes.
Question #9: Black-throated green warbler
There are over 50 species of warblers in North America, so it can be extremely hard to keep track of all of them. The black-throated green warbler is no exception. The word “green” can be a bit misleading, as it’s more of an olive green than anything, but it’s an important distinction from other closely related warblers like the Townsend’s or hermit warblers. The dark black throat is present on males, though Townsend’s warblers and Townsend’s-hermit hybrids may also have black coloration in that area. Female and juveniles have a much less pronounced black coloring in the throat area, and closely resemble hermit warblers except with an olive green nape that the hermit warbler lacks.
Question #10: Steller’s jay
Steller’s jays are common in Rocky Mountain evergreen forests down through Central America. Central American varieties are nearly fully blue, while others are an almost even split of black and blue with a large crest on the top of their heads. That black and blue color mix sets Steller’s jays apart from all other jays.