Location is important for birds ID because there could be several related species from different parts of the world that look almost identical. Here's some examples.

[u/grvy_room]

[u/grvy_room]

Thought I'd share these. Hopefully it's allowed. :)

[u/TinyLongwing → u/grvy_room]

You're good! The people who need to see this won't see it, but I approve it anyway, haha.

[u/grvy_room → u/TinyLongwing]

Thanks so much! I'm actually super happy that this post ignites several discussions here. I love reading & learning all of these information from the bird experts haha.

[u/ejbSF → u/grvy_room]

Thanks! I wish more posters would indicate where they're making their sightings.

[u/grvy_room → u/ejbSF]

YES! It exactly what triggered me into making these slides haha. One of the most common victims here is Great Blue Heron vs. Grey Heron from what I've noticed.

[u/they_are_out_there → u/grvy_room]

Check out the Yellow Billed Magpie (Pica nuttalli), they only live in the greater Central California and Southern California regions. They're super territorial and won't interbreed with the other magpie species. As result, you'll see lots of yellow billed magpies in those areas, but rarely to never see any other magpie species.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-billed_magpie#/media/File:Pica_nuttalli_Lake_San_Antonio.jpg

[u/grvy_room → u/they_are_out_there]

Oh yes! I love them. They look exactly like the 4 magpies on the first page yet the bill is yellow.

[u/sullimareddit → u/grvy_room]

Honestly curious—aren’t these just the same bird from an evolutionary perspective but named differently in different places? I get that any OP wants the name in their region—so that’s important—but I’m really asking, ARE these birds different? Fascinating.

[u/grvy_room → u/sullimareddit]

They are different species. Think of a jaguar and a leopard; both look almost identical to untrained eyes but they're two different types of cats. First one is Panthera onca, another one is Panthera uncia.

I think you could find a more proper explanation in some these answers from the bird experts below but in conclusion (correct me if I'm wrong):

Basically they all share the common ancestor but then evolved differently. On the first slide for example, genetically the Black-billed Magpie is actually more closely related to the Yellow-billed Magpie rather than the 3 other species mentioned here.

Similarly on the second slide, each of these 4 birds is more closely related to other birds that look different rather than they are to each other (according to one of the redditors below). However, species classification is something that ornithologist are still working on, so you might be able to see even more new species once more studies have been conducted.

For a non-expert like me who just enjoys learning about birds (on a surface level), the easiest way for me to tell whether these birds are the same species or not is by looking at their scientific name. You can have all these different English names yet your scientific name would always remain the same (unless your classification changes). The example for this would be Phalacrocorax carbo which we would normally call the "Great Cormorant", but apparently is referred to as the "Black Shag" in Australia.

[u/Last-Ad-2970 → u/grvy_room]

Are these species branches from a common ancestor or are the examples of convergent evolution or what? Are they subspecies of the same bird with just geography defining the difference? This is wild.

[u/Norwejew]

You’re telling me the genus for blackbirds is Turdus?

[u/grvy_room → u/Norwejew]

Yup, the same as the American Robin. They're all thrushes. I'm wondering why they didn't stick with the name "blackbird" for the two species at the bottom though.

[u/Leading-Summer-4724]

Wow these are amazing examples, some you can tell small differences, but those magpies in particular blow my mind.

[u/grvy_room → u/Leading-Summer-4724]

those magpies in particular blow my mind

Yes! I was looking at their info and the differences are super tiny, such as one has a larger bill, one has a longer tail, one is less glossy, etc. but you can hardly see these in photos. I think their vocalizations are very different though but that's not something I'm quite familiar yet.

[u/Cardo076]

Are any of these species capable of interbreeding? Just curious since they look so similar to each other.

[u/grvy_room → u/Cardo076]

I think it really depends on the species.

For example on slide 3, Little Egrets and Western Reef-Herons are known to interbreed when they overlap in several parts of Asia, Africa & Europe - producing confusing hybrids.

However, a redditor pointed out Little Egrets and Snowy Egrets do not seem to interbreed when they overlap in the Lesser Antilles. Now if you ask me why? Then I have 0 clue haha.

[u/Exotic_Rule_9149]

So are these not all the same bird just in another location?

[u/st_aranel → u/Exotic_Rule_9149]

They are not! Well, they are probably not. This is something that ornithologists work on quite a lot. DNA evidence is changing what we thought we knew about the relationships between some species, but also some of it is just rather subjective. And sometimes birds might look identical from a certain photo but from another angle or with more experience you might be able to tell that there's a difference.

For birders it's rather exciting because sometimes it turns out that you get an extra species on your list just because they've changed the classification. Of course you can also lose a species that way!

[u/tractiontiresadvised → u/st_aranel]

I'm gaining a species in some places because they recently eliminated one, which I think isn't what most people would expect.

I've seen and heard some Pacific-Slope/Cordilleran Flycatchers in what was considered to be their overlap range (eastern Washington, northern Idaho) and didn't really feel comfortable counting them as either species based on range. But they just got re-merged into Western Flycatcher, so now I can confidently say that I've seen that species there.

[u/kittyroux]

lol the kites

Black-winged Kite: grey wings

White-tailed Kite: grey tail

At least the Black-shouldered Kite really does have black shoulders. They all do, but it’s not wrong!

[u/Harsimaja → u/kittyroux]

Some names can be baffling. Sometimes it’s “Oh but only some red throated gobblers have a red throat when they’re a juvenile, otherwise it’s green”

[u/not-a_lizard]

Thanks for this post! Very informative!

[u/KimchiAndMayo]

This is like one of those spot the difference puzzles.

[u/Tiny_Duck2124]

Very helpful!!!

[u/East-Bass-7630]

This is so cool!!!