Juvenile western bluebird and Merlin

[Bill Kosar]

   I took this picture about 12 years ago in northern New Mexico but I had not identified what kind of bird it was. As part of a current project I needed a good ID on it. It sort of resembled a juvenile robin but was really not a good match, several online tools came up with that ID. Merlin has said it was a Wesstern bluebird which I think is correct.

   I know this site is supposed to be about Colorado birds but I seen many mountain and western bluebirds in Colorado so I thought this post was appropriate. I tried Merlin on a few other pictures as a test and I was impressed with its accuracy but once in a while it was way off.

Comments are welcome!

Bill Kosar

El Paso country

[Steve Stachowiak]

Bill - It appears to be a juvenile Townsend’s Solitaire.  Steve

On Feb 14, 2026, at 9:31 AM, Bill Kosar <bill_...@msn.com> wrote:

   I took this picture about 12 years ago in northern New Mexico but I had not identified what kind of bird it was. As part of a current project I needed a good ID on it. It sort of resembled a juvenile robin but was really not a good match, several online tools came up with that ID. Merlin has said it was a Wesstern bluebird which I think is correct.

<_MG_6500_cr.jpg>

--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To post to this group, send email to cob...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds
* All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate.
* Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/membership/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to cobirds+u...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/fb18b066-d818-4091-ac81-0eba18180b83n%40googlegroups.com.

<_MG_6500_cr.jpg>

[T. Luke George]

Tail seems too short for a solitaire, I think juvenile Western Bluebird is correct.

​T. Luke George, PhD

Master Instructor, ​Colorado ​State University

Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology

Wagar 110

970-491-3311 (o)

P​rofessor Emeritus, Humboldt State University

707-499-4053 (c)

t.luke...@gmail.com

"what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" Mary Oliver

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/45C0C4BE-09D0-415C-879F-0F7101EC1693%40gmail.com.

[Caoimhín Perkins]

Correct me if I’m wrong and if Merlin is incomplete in its photos of immature western bluebirds and townsend’s solitaires, but the gape flange is yellow in this photo, which is a western bluebird trait, yes?

[Bill Kosar]

Image ID via AI is a very challenging area where a lot of work is being done. There is a very strong focus on identifying melanoma using two-dimension images taken in the doctor's office but the accuracy of current software tools seems to be about 95% at best which is similar to what dermatologists' accuracy is. They are using huge databases (20,000 or more) of pictures of one particular type of cancer and a very experienced dermatologist expects the AI tools to get better over time.

  By contrast the database of juvenile western bluebirds (and other juveniles)  is probably very small so the Merlin model will not be that accurate, for now. Merlin is making decisions based on a single image, if you could give it images from multiple angles its accuracy would probably be much better.

Bill

[zroadrunner14]

After a little study, I'm going with Western Bluebird. A Solitaire looks more scaled than spotted. This bird looks more spotted than scaled. Solitaires have longer tails. This birds tail is shorter. 

Just my opinion. 

Ira Sanders 

Golden 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAGFJZuGZMq%2BFJoJsLUk0P2EKXtgZ1D3ACoHpSgMyP_JvrJuL%2Bw%40mail.gmail.com.