I am a competitive birder. As such, I care about bird identification and go to great lengths to identify correctly every bird I report. Over the years I have seen certain species routinely misidentified by less-experienced birders. It’s natural for certain closely related species to be confused with each other. This tends to happen when one species develops a character trait that mimics another species. This confusion may be resolved by examining other phenotypic characters in order to come to a correct identification. I call the confusing trait a ‘pitfall’ in bird identification. These pitfalls will vary geographically. I will showcase these identification challenges and back them up with photographic evidence in this blog.

Comments are welcome, positive or negative, but please keep them constructive and civil. I plan to contribute a new episode monthly, if not more frequently. What pitfalls have you encountered???