Sorry for the terrible photo, but I can finish this one off and start the next with one photo.

Long is next.

Long-tailed Duck

Long-tailed Tit - (Aegithalos caudatus)
Photographed in Bulgaria.

Sorry - a bit distant, but it's in there!

Finish and start

Long-Eared owl

So I incorectly used my Eared Grebe as a Horned Grebe in Alpha birding, so here it is where it actually fits:

I have to pass on eared, unless you let me enter a photo of roadkill Eared Poorwill or a Sparkling Violetear or Green Violetear.

If this game is ever going to have a "winner" it will be one of you guys who does lots of international travel. Most of us landlubbers are out. Perhaps Owen just played a trump card?

My only "eared" was Blue-eared Kingfisher, which I used for Blue.

Okay, I know it's a rubbish shot but needs must....



Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting)
Photographed at Sepilok, Sabah, Borneo.

At this point I'm going to be out of all the games pretty son anyway. I really need to convert my slides

So I'd give you half a point for a bEARded something

-nightdriver

WHEW - I feel for the person posting the next 4th critter - just trying to find something we haven't done yet (or could do again!) is a challenge at this point...

Here's my non-alphabetized summary of what we've used to date:
Least
Eastern
American
Common
Golden
Blue
Western
White
Black
Northern
Greater
South(ern)
Yellow
Red
Ruddy
Great
European
Eurasian
Buff(y)
California
Cassin’s
Brown
-bellied
-winged
-crested
Masked
-billed
-breasted
-crowned
-eyed
Wilson’s
-headed
Snow(y)
-billed (again)
Wood
-colored
-tailed
Long
-eared


Here are some unused suggestions gleaned from the last 4 pages as well... Crimson, Dark, Double, Dusky, Gray, Green, Hooded, Little, Large, Small, Short, Large, Small, Vented, etc.

So I'll let this photo do double duty for -eared



And start the next "Four of a Kind" with short

Short-eared Owl.

Wow rip, you should get a double word score for ending one and starting another with the same bird!

There are only a couple of US species that meet this criterion, so I will avoid those and go with a non-North American species, or at least one that is rare in North America.

I'll go next with Short-tailed Shearwater (Foveaux Straits, New Zealand)

Well, since I threw "short" out there, I'll try to keep it going with a Short-billed dowitcher

I seem to have a shortage of photos fitting the most recent choices. I guess that's what happens when 98% of photos come from one county.

OK...so no one had a Short-tailed Hawk, so I'll finish this off with Short-toed Treecreeper (Spain) -



and also use this to start off the next round with TREE as the next target word. It can be the beginning or anywhere in the bird's name.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus)
Photographed in Bulgaria.

Tree Swallow (though Tree is tough).

It seems we're stuck here. I should have at least a bad shot of a eurasian treecreeper somewhere but can't seem to find it - mght have to go for a short walk to get a new one tomorrow (if someone hasn't moved us on in the meantime)

Tree pipit is the other unused easy one around here - just not at this time of year

I was thinking when I suggested this one that there were some easy birds:
Tree Swallow
American Tree Sparrow
Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Brown Treecreeper, of course, then I remembered our creeper doesn't have tree in the name. DOH!

Who had the Treepie from the other post?

Let's say that on December 29th, someone can just start a new word. It is already Dec 29th where I'm sitting, but I'll defer to someone else when their Dec 29th comes around.

Chris, are you in New Zealand?

Into the 29th here so I'd like to propose the next word. - OLIVE



Olive-backed Sunbird (Cinnyris jugularis)
Photographed in Malaysia.

Yep.

Olive is going to be tough I think. There are a two US species I can think of, but both have limited ranges in the US. Then there in an Olivaceous bird which is pretty close.

I'll contribute a species from south of the border, Olive-throated Parakeet (from the Yucatan).

Olive-backed Euphonia (Euphonia gouldi)
Photographed in Costa Rica.

So, I guess now we're just waiting for someone to post an olive-tree warbler to round out both of the last two...

Could be a long wait...

My computer cord died a few days ago, so my online time has been limited.

Here's that Rufous Treepie to finish off Tree.


Here's an Olive Sparrow to finish off Olive.


I'll edit this in a few minutes with what's next.

Let's go with Green.


Green Bee-eater

OK, so it's not an olive-tree warbler... nice job finishing both of them nonetheless

A particular thanks for wrapping up the trees. I more or less promised to go out and photograph a Eurasian treecreeper - didn't get out yesterday but did today. All I saw were three short-toed treecreepers - by far the rarer of our two local Certhia species but already covered by Chris


... now it seems I should have photographed some of the greenfinches instead

I'll follow up my last parakeet with another species from the same genus, Green Parakeet (McAllen, TX). There is some question whether these are actually a population of feral captives or a naturally occurring population of GRPA that moved up from Mexico.

I actually have 3 'greens', but played Green-winged Teal on 'winged', so Violet-green Swallow

Green Honeycreeper



Moving on with Little...

Little Heron

Little Grebe

Little Blue Heron

How about a Little Gull (in front, Port Aransas, TX)



Can we get through vented next?

Sapphire-vented Puffleg (Ecuador)

Yellow-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus goiavier)
Photographed in Malaysia.

OK, so may vented wasn't a great one either.

Here's a Pale-vented Pigeon from Chiapas, Mexico -



I have a Red-vented Bulbul shot but I won't be able to access it before next week.

All my black-vented shearwater pics are on slides

-nightdriver

Owen: Your swallow picture is amazing! They are so small and fast it is more than challenging to photograph any swallow on the wing.

OK, tell you what...I will put a Red-vented Bulbul photo here next week when I have access to my home computer and we'll call "vented" done.

Here's my Red-vented Bulbul to finish this group a bit late (Nadi, Fiji)



Here's an easier one we haven't done yet (I think?) - -rumped

There are a few US birds for this category, and I'll start with one of the less commonly seen ones -

Band-rumped Storm-Petrel

I'm going easy

Yellow-rumped warbler

First -vented, then -rumped. Chris, you're an ass man! I only have Audubon's (Yellow-rumped), so again, I can't play your reindeer games. Now as a face man myself, I would have gone -faced.

Sorry, I thought I was throwing out an easy one after the tough ones we've had. There's still a common US sandpiper I'll leave for someone else.

Here's some White-rumped Swiftlets from Tavenuni, Fiji.

Its taken two days of solid searching through murky images of out of focus jungle birds but I knew it was there somewhere...


White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus). Photographed in Penang.


Now excuse me whilst I research what word I should put up next.

Okay this should go, THROATED


White-throated Magpie Jays photographed in Nicaragua.

Black-throated Trogon - Ecuador. I've seen 12 Trogon species in the wild, but this one had to be the most breathtaking. Doesn't show in the photo well, but the sapphire blue of this bird is breathtaking in the forest understory.

I'll get my only -throated in with Ash-throated Flycatcher:

Ruby throated hummingbird

lunch by bugsnstuff, on Flickr

LESSER yellowlegs

yellowlegs by bugsnstuff, on Flickr
Gotta say I am continually amazed by the pictures you all post, some outstanding images there!

Lesser Adjutant

I watched this bird for several minutes as it skulked around a clearing. This was the best shot I could manage.



Lesser Green Leafbird (Chloropsis cyanopogon) photographed in Borneo.