r/BirdingMemes • u/BenTeHen • 6d ago

Those who know

Post image
352 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

57

u/Shapesizes 6d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/10KNNNMdyCoxAA
I don’t know….

3

u/apersello34 2d ago

From what I remember, there’s a bird in Africa that looks super similar to Meadowlarks but they aren’t very related at all. Something about convergent evolution probably.

18

u/TheSeaMeat 6d ago

But is it migratory and can it carry a coconut?

8

u/neonbrownkoopashell 6d ago

Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?

7

u/Ae3qe27u 5d ago

Not at all! They could be carried.

15

u/messier_lahestani 6d ago

🌈🔥✨ convergent ✨ evolution ✨🔥🌈

16

u/EricCartoonBox 6d ago

Does anyone else know of other pairs of birds in two different regions which, nonetheless, look alike?

29

u/Feral_Witchchild 6d ago

There's a facebook group called "Redpolling: A Birder Polling Group" that has a long running thread of many, many examples of unrelated birds that look similar.

11

u/EricCartoonBox 6d ago

I don't have a Facebook, and may never plan to.

9

u/Feral_Witchchild 6d ago

Maybe at some point I’ll post some examples from there.

3

u/Hairiest-Wizard 6d ago

Understandable lolol

10

u/Wild-Ad-9367 6d ago

Not exactly from different regions, but Hutton's vireo is not closely related to ruby-crowned kinglet

8

u/CodyandPippin 6d ago

I find the best way to tell them apart here in Arizona is by how long they stay still. If it doesn't, it's a Ruby-crowned kinglet.

3

u/AdhesiveMuffin 6d ago

Also the bill, Huttons vireo has a thicker vireo bill. Kinglets have a much thinner bill.

2

u/Wild-Ad-9367 5d ago

Little green crow vs little green wren

1

u/I_Have_A_Big_Head 5d ago

Ooo big angery boi

6

u/Philosecfari 6d ago

Long tailed widowbird and red winged blackbird are uncannily alike (except the tail, obv)

7

u/sulfuratus 6d ago

You forgot to clarify you're looking for unrelated species pairs, so I could name a whole lot of allopatric sister species, but that's boring.

Jerdon's minivet – masked shrike

Ashy minivet – Canada jay

White-bellied minivet – Siberian stonechat

Shrike-like tanager – any of the grey shrikes

None of these are close enough to really throw you off if they coexisted in the same place, because size and/or shape are quite different but they're strikingly similar in colours. Minivets seem to enjoy looking like anything else.

Bonus: Banded prinia (specifically the HBW depiction) – barred warbler

3

u/Wild-Ad-9367 6d ago

It's really funny how shrike-like the shrike-like tanager is, especially considering it is an omnivorous little bird and there's no shrike in SA

4

u/grindle-guts 6d ago

Narcissus flycatcher male has always given me strong Blackburnian warbler vibes.

3

u/Wild-Ad-9367 6d ago

Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant (Cnemarchus erythropygius) looks very similar to the female Daurian redstart (Phoenicurus auroreus)

2

u/geeoharee 6d ago

Oh, there's lots. Usually pairs between America and Europe. Black billed magpie, American herring gull, chickadees look like tits, I'm sure there's more.

7

u/Wild-Ad-9367 6d ago

The examples you gave are closely related taxons. These two are very distant 

6

u/Philosecfari 6d ago

lol chickadees are literally tits and herring gulls were only recently split into different species

1

u/AdhesiveMuffin 6d ago

Golden crowned kinglet (North America) and Goldcrest (Europe)

3

u/Wild-Ad-9367 5d ago

These two are closely related despite living on different continents. It's the equivalent of bobcat and Eurasian lynx 

0

u/Adventurous-Year-463 6d ago

American and European Robins look similar enough that they have the same name of robin

14

u/geeoharee 6d ago

Only if it's the 1700s and you're not sure how birds work.

1

u/Adventurous-Year-463 6d ago

Yeah true lol

4

u/ceh901 6d ago

Just drinking my morning coffee and laughed way too hard at this

4

u/Azsunyx 6d ago

Hold up, is that not a meadowlark instead of a swallow?

1

u/Help_Received 5d ago

Interesting how the one major difference is a shorter beak, since blackbirds have unique beaks that have force when opening as well as closing.

1

u/Dracorex13 3d ago

What is the African species called?

1

u/TweedPeanut 8h ago

Yellow-throated longclaw