Identification

If you have seen my pictures or gone to eBird and encountered my checklists, you might notice that I’m not the best at identification. There are a number of reasons for this ranging from higher priorities to incomplete field guides.

Birds are probably among my best subjects for identification right now (for those who know my birding skills, that’s sad). I have encountered the same birds so many times that I have become familiar with most of the species I bump into. There are still some exceptions.

Some species are just too similar for me such as Northwestern Crows and American Crows (I have heard that we have both and hybrids). Some species might be more identifiable if I became more familiar with similar species. I’m pretty sure that I have seen a Cooper’s Hawk several times, but I really haven’t watched Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned enough to be confident. I’m still hesitant with Scaups even though I usually have a guess. Even Gulls can cause me problems, partially because I usually see them at a distance and can’t see wingtips, feet color, etc. Add to that the problems of variable plumage due to age as well as the possible hybrids, and I frequently list Gulls as merely Gulls.

Some species of birds just give me problems. I tend to struggle with plain looking passerines, especially while young. I label a lot of pictures as “Bird” that fit this description.

Mammals seem straightforward, but even they can remain unidentified. For example, there are a lot of aquatic mammals. Most mammal descriptions describe how mammals look out of the water (even cetaceans frequently have underwater markings referenced). Add to that the fact that aquatic mammals are usually seen at a greater distance (I’m not walking on the water to get a better look), and it’s hard for me to look through everything to find the right brownish mammal.

How about butterflies? According to Wikipedia (not a source everyone likes, but I see no reason for anyone to provide inaccurate information on this one), there are between 15,000 and 20,000 species worldwide. They also have similarities with Moths. Can anyone find me a complete field guide for the Pacific Northwest that is easy to sort through? I have at least figured out some species, but I’m not entirely comfortable with identification, especially since most field guides are likely omitting several species.

Other insects can get even worse. Keep in mind that Butterflies are insects. They have to be identified completely separately from other insects. Why? Because of the number of species. If you don’t know what type of insect you are looking at, where do you even begin? I’m pretty sure there are no complete generic insect field guides out there. Since butterflies are among the more popular, they get their own. I have gone online and found Dragonfly and Damselfly field guides (regional!), but I haven’t bought one yet (probably my next field guide purchase). As of right now, I only have them listed as Dragonflies and Damselflies. What about ants, beetles, or bees? Can I get complete field guides for them?

It’s not just insects. There are a lot of animal species on this planet. There are Spiders. There are mollusks including slugs and snails. There’s another world of wildlife at sea such as Starfish, Jellyfish, Crabs, and Anemone. Some of these can be seen on the beach.

There’s more to identification than animals. Plants can be difficult. Flowers are among the biggest focus on plants, but even they are tricky. Among the problems is the diversity of flowers. Like Butterflies, most field guides will be incomplete. Even if I can find something that looks right in a field guide, I might hold back on specific species out of concerns that there is a similar species not mentioned. Take a look at Lupine. There are a lot of similar species out there, and it’s a common plant in gardens (some species could have been planted in the past and continue to grow). I’m not going to try to figure out the specifics out of fear that I’m looking at a species that’s not in a field guide.

I’m unaware of any plant that always has flowers, and many plant don’t ever have flowers (conifers, ferns). This means that every plant will at least spend some time unidentifiable in flower books. Most plants (grasses, ground cover without flowers) aren’t even worth trying.

Fungus is another area of concern. I haven’t found a good field guide for identifying fungus from pictures I take (I do have a comprehensive field guide that could help if I closely examined the actual fungus with the book handy, but I have more important things to carry). Even if I think I know (Fly Amanita?), I usually leave fungus unidentified simply because there are so many species that I don’t know anything about.

After long vacations, I try even less to identify. This is because I end up with a backlog of pictures. Uploading is a higher priority than identification. Even with species I have never seen before, I struggle to justify the search. With most flowers, I don’t even make an effort.

I try to label my pictures when I can, but a lot still gets uploaded with generic titles. For similar reasons, not every bird I ever see gets included on eBird. There is no question that I can still improve, but I have so much that I’m working on right now. These generic titles and missing checklist items will continue. For those who want to know exactly what I’m sharing online, I’m sorry.