Bird Id??

Possibly a Sandhill Crane - not a Canada Goose

Mary,

Looks to me, from this image, might be a cormorant/snake bird,

Rich

Thanks, Debbie. I don't think we have sandhill cranes around here, but I'll check.

Rich, I kind of thought of a cormorant, but I don't think the wings are right? Maybe....

EDIT - maybe until I'm sure, I'm just going to change it to "bird" - egrets have more pointed beaks than that. This one has a curved beak in the front.

I think it's likely a cormorant, based on what seems to be a hook at the tip of the beak.

Thanks, Greg. I'm leaning in that direction myself, but I'm not a bird expert. If I can't pin it down definitively, I'll just leave it "bird" but it's always nice to have the correct term in there.

I have a lot of Audubon field guides, but I don't have one on birds....drat!

In your locale, this would be a double-crested Cormorant.

Thanks, Nick. I looked at cormorant profiles using Google images, and what came up that looks like this is exactly what you called it. I'm going to put that in my keywords now. Thanks for the assist everyone.

Cormorant!

Thanks, Fraida. I just put it in my keywords.

I'm signing off for the night, it's 12:30 here, thanks everybody.

Yes, got to the party late, but def. Double Crested-Anhingas or snake birds have a pointed beak like the herons and egrets, while the commorants have the give-away crook in the beak.

Thanks, Alicia. I did put it in my keywords. Being a book hoarder, this is an excuse for me to buy the Audubon field guide to birds. Of course, they have it divided into two sections - eastern region and western region so I have to buy both.....I've found my Audubon guides to come in handy with wildflowers, etc, begin botanically challenged. I'm also bird challenged to some degree, so I would like to have a reference.

I thought maybe it was an egret at first until I zoomed in on the beak and knew I was off. I think cormorants are cool looking birds. This guy was backlit and I was trying to shoot fast, so I didn't get a good look at him as he went by.

Hello, Fraida - you snuck in here when I wasn't looking LOL....

Merlin bird ID is a good smartphone app by Cornell Labs, I use it when I am out shooting for quick IDs.

Mary, I have some shots of cormorants in my Murrells Inlet gallery but none in the air. All of mine are standing on pilings. Take a look if you think it might help. I also have a pastel of one in my birds gallery. I think you have a positive id now though.

Thanks Alicia and Linda. I thought this thread was dead :-).

My favorites are the egrets. I think those are the most beautiful birds. Don't see that many around here, though. Plenty of seagulls since I live less than a mile from a major river.