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Possible American Pipits?
This morning at Shark Valley I had a large flock of birds catch my attention. I didn't recognize the flight call nor the silhouette of the birds: they were too small for Common Grackles and were smaller than Red-winged Blackbirds. The flight pattern of the flock seemed novel to me, once more suggesting they were not blackbirds. The lighting was such that I couldn't make out any field marks. The flight calls seemed to match recordings I listened to off Xeno-canto.org. It seems as though there are no current sightings this far south on eBird, and although there are reports of pipits in November, I saw at least 60 and more likely 75 or more birds. I can't say I positively ID'd them and am not posting to eBird, but I wanted to see what people thought.
Comments
American Pipit is very likely at this time of year.
A visiting birder contacted me last week inquiring about a possible American Pipit from the Shark Valley area. He wasn't sure of the visual but he felt confident in the audio ID. Flocks of American Pipits seem to roam the South Dade ag fields throughout late fall and winter.
Thanks Brian and Robin! Since both of you find my interpretation of the sighting plausible, I'm going to go ahead and put it on eBird. The flight call was definitely something I'd never heard before, and it matched up with the recordings I listened to. The birds did fly off SE in the direction of the ag lands.
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