The Guessing Game

This past Friday I went birding with a group of friends from work and the topic of GISS (general impression of size and shape) came up. After careful field guide study of what birds may be present in an area at certain times of year, the next best method to identifying birds is GISS. By using this method you can quickly narrow the possibilities. Many species of birds are unique enough in appearance that they can be identified right off the bat, but others are more confusing. If you're lucky the bird may sit in the open long enough for in depth study through binoculars, but this still may not be enough. Given changing conditions of age, sex, and molt, bird identification can still be difficult to impossible even with photographs. At some point all you can do is guess.

A clear example of this was a bird we saw toward the end of the outing on Friday.



Using GISS, my first thought when I saw this bird was a Yellow Warbler. I knew they ad been spotted recently in the area during their fall migration. At the time it seemed like the right size and color, but the ID did not sit easily. When looking at the (poor) picture later, and discussing it with other birders, a consensus could still not be reached. While some thought it might be a female Summer Tanager or Baltimore Oriole, I am guessing it was a female Orchard Oriole. What's your guess?