How much of a bird do you need to see in order to identify it? Can you identify a bird merely by its silhouette? If I hadn’t been watching this bird before it dove off of the branch, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to identify it from the silhouette.
Are things easier if the bird is in the shadows, but some color is visible and the shape is more recognizable?
Even if your identification skills are weak, this last shot is clear enough that you could eventually determine that it is a Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), a frequent visitor in my neighborhood. These birds are small and a little tough to see, but they have really loud voices. (Check out the website of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to listen to its song).
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I like these birds. They always look happy to me.
Woo hoo! I got it right – admittedly not from the first photo. I love the way you can see the pattern of the wing feathers in that first photo by the way. I am obviously pretty new to North American birds but I am getting pretty good at identifying the ones who visit my garden. I struggle with others still. I use the Cornell Lab app a lot to help me out.
Such a fun challenge; reminds me of my last plant id class, I so thoroughly enjoyed it.
Silhouettes are always a challenge, but you’re right in that their sounds, as well as their behavior fill in for the visual gaps. Truly wonderful photos. 😀
Thanks for your kind words for these photos (and so many others).
That was an easy one, they are all over my moms feeder in Tennessee year round.. 🙂