There are 2 subspecies of Bald Eagle. They are nearly identical in ID marks. The only major difference is geographic range. This is in MN so it has to be a Northern Bald Eagle. Most birds do not have distinct subspeciest that can be recognized in field, however others can have several. Most of these can be easily found in a comprehensive bird guide such as the Sibleys Guide to Birds of North America.
The subspecies are in fact completely identical in plumage, and are distinguished only by size, with the northern population on average somewhat larger than the southern one. However, size may vary in clinal fashion, and it is not clear from the data that members of either population stay solely within their roughly-defined regions. (I’d be surprised if they did!) In other words, Bald Eagle subspecies are not well defined and may not truly exist biologically speaking.
Hairy Woodpecker Busy Eating , while another bird in the background photobombs 🙂
ID tips from friends:
the clean white outer tail feathers distinguish Hairy from Downy, in most areas anyway.
Female Hairy Woodpecker. unbarred tail feathers, larger bill, and well developed comma eliminate a Downy
You can also see the size of the bird compared to each suet cake. It’s a hairy.
Taken with a Canon Rebel XSi 12.2 MP D-SLR Camera with a 75-300 canon lens
I see beauty everywhere I look, in nature. This site and the photos are here in an attempt to share with you some of what I see, for your enjoyment. You will find plants and animals, the flora and fauna, and fungi, along with sky photos of celestial objects, landscape shots, macro shots, experimental concepts, photos of food items, rocks and minerals including some chemistry. These things mentioned here which I photograph, some ancient philosophies have considered to be living, life itself, Biota, Vitae... and were broken into 3 kingdoms, plant, animal, and mineral.
Most of these photos exist in larger sizes. If you'd like a photo without my signature on it you could email me. These photos make great desktop background images, posters, greeting cards, art work, etc.
Some photos are purely for the enjoyment factor, others are meant to identify certain plants or animals offering some education.
Be well,
Ethan
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