Round Robin

While I was busy last week working on the new All About Birds species profiles, the Birdshare crowd got down to brass tacks with part one of our photo wish list. The response was wonderful – our photo holdings for each of the 10 species we asked for doubled, tripled, quadrupled, or better! We started the week with zero California Towhee photos and ended with more than a dozen. Your contributions will make our new species accounts come alive with detailed photos.

I was glad to see more representation for some common, if not exactly beloved species: We had only three European Starling photos before we put them on our wish list, and now we have 30. I, for one, am glad to see them. I know starlings are unpopular birds. They’re not native, they clutter up the skies, and they chase bluebirds and Tree Swallows out of their nest boxes. So yes, they could work on their social skills. But don’t we all have at least one friend who’s a little like that? Take a look at a starling up close – or listen to them chattering from a telephone pole – and there’s plenty to admire (for examples, see photos by Birdsharers JoanGeeAZ and Sam Wilson, among others).

So I scanned down our list to see what other species our Birdshare archive is weak on. Topping the list is Brewer’s Blackbird, itself no slouch when it comes to prettying up a sidewalk. A few other surprisingly common birds made the list, too, like Hairy Woodpecker and Chipping Sparrow. I kept Rock Pigeon on the list for a second week because, despite last week’s appeal, we still have only 11 photos – of what has to be the easiest-to-photograph bird in the nation.

We’d love some photos of the heroic little Rufous Hummingbird – a unanimous choice over Black-chinned Hummingbird during a recent discussion on our Twitter feed. We’ve even got a supervillain for you: Brown-headed Cowbird. Anyone have any good shots?

Birdshare Wish List (Part Two)

Brewer’s Blackbird

Eastern Towhee

Hairy Woodpecker

Brown-headed Cowbird

Chipping Sparrow

Killdeer

California Quail

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Rufous Hummingbird

Common Raven

Rock Pigeon

Thanks once more to all 401 of you Birdsharers out there. See you next week!

Don’t know what Birdshare is? Read a description here – then grab your camera and head on over!

Image: My personal best when it comes to Brewer’s Blackbird wildlife photos. Can you help?