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ID help, please...

13 years ago

A friend is looking for help to ID this bird. I'm thinking it's a green heron, but others are disagreeing. Since I'm no expert, I'd like some help.

This is her description of seeing the bird:

"Along Fall River, central Oregon, shallow, slow moving. He's standing in about 6 inches of water. He flitted back and forth from the bank to the log to the water. Pic. taken from a fair distance, would guess him to be about 18" in size. Head darker than body but sun kept me from determining colors."

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Comments (9)

Elly_NJ
13 years ago
American dipper?
purple31
Original Author
13 years ago
That's what someone else suggested, but the water is at least 6" deep where this bird is standing. A dipper's legs aren't that long. No?
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Elly_NJ
13 years ago
No bird but an ostrich is that tall!

This is a dipper.
tmff
13 years ago
It was probably standing on a rock.
purple31
Original Author
13 years ago
That reads six inches (6"), not six feet (6'), so there are plenty of birds other than an ostrich with legs long enough to stand in that water.
I question it's being a dipper because she also said it didn't act like one and that wasn't the only spot it stood in that depth of water and was about the same height throughout her observation.
I wish she had a better photo because this one is too out of focus and has poor lighting to boot. To me, the legs look too sturdy (and too long if they are indeed +/- 6").
purple31
Original Author
13 years ago
That reads six inches (6"), not six feet (6'), so there are plenty of birds other than an ostrich with legs long enough to stand in that water.
I question it's being a dipper because she also said it didn't act like one and that wasn't the only spot it stood in that depth of water and was about the same height throughout her observation.
I wish she had a better photo because this one is too out of focus and has poor lighting to boot. To me, the legs look too sturdy (and too long if they are indeed +/- 6").
tmff
13 years ago
I've exhausted my resources and haven't found another bird with these combinations:
-round head
-fat, stubby neck
-straight bill that's only as long as the head
-puny tail
-uniformly dark in color
-stands in this horizontal position
-wades in fresh water
-found in OR

American Dipper is all I can find, too. I can't gauge the size off of this photo, and it was probably standing on rocks.

Sorry! I tried!
purple31
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks.
Since I'm east coast, I'd never heard of the American dipper until someone said this is what it might be and looked it up. I was taking the photographer at her word when she said how deep the water is and that she'd seen it in several different locations; my question was based on thinking odds were that it wasn't standing on a rock each time... but maybe it was a rocky creek (that, I do not know, since I wasn't there to make the observation).
The dipper is a rather interesting bird from what I've read/seen (some video on youtube in addition to the official descriptions I've found in books and online birding resources). Maybe someday, I'll get to see one in person.
birding_nut
13 years ago
I agree. Looks like an American Dipper to me and I have seen quite a few on rivers in WA.

BN

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