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Chukar: Large, quail-like bird with orange-brown and slate-blue upperparts and breast, and black and rufous barred white flanks. White face has sharp black line extending to neck. Bill and legs are bright pink-red. Escapes danger by running. Direct flight with rapid deep wing beats.
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Common Rosefinch: Small, stocky finch, red upperparts and breast, faintly streaked brown back, white underparts. Bill is dark gray and stout. Wings and tail are dark brown. Legs and feet are gray-brown. Forages on ground and in trees and shrubs for seeds and insects. Bounding flight.
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Common Chaffinch: Medium finch. Buff body. Crown and nape are blue-gray; belly and vent are white. Dark wings with white shoulder patches and single white bars. Forages in trees, bushes. Eats seeds and insects. Bounding flight, alternates rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.
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Canyon Towhee: Large sparrow, gray upperparts, pale gray underparts, large central breast spot, and white belly patch. Crown is rust-brown. Tail is long with brown undertail coverts. Legs are pink-brown. Short flights with rapidly beating wing strokes alternating with wings pulled briefly to sides.
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Carolina Wren: Medium-sized wren with rufous upperparts and buff underparts. Eyebrows are white, wings and tail are dark barred with white flecks. Throat and chin are white. Bill is decurved. Legs and feet are pink-gray. Range expands north when winters are mild and retracts south when harsh.
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Cassin's Vireo: Small vireo, olive-gray upperparts, white underparts, pale yellow flanks. Head is gray with white eye-ring that extends to brow. Wings are dark with two white bars. Until the 1990s was classified as the Solitary Vireo, along with the Blue-headed and Plumbeous Vireos.
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Cave Swallow: Small swallow (Southwest pelodoma), with steel-blue upperparts, white underparts, rufous wash on breast and sides. Forehead is chestnut-brown and throat and rump are buff. Tail is square. Swift, graceful flight, alternates several rapid, deep wing beats with long curving glides.
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Common Redpoll: Small finch, brown-streaked gray upperparts, bright rose-pink breast, boldly streaked flanks and undertail coverts. Red cap and black chin. Bill is olive-brown with fine black tip. Wings are dark with two narrow white bars; tail is black and notched. Black legs, feet.
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Cerulean Warbler: Small warbler with sky-blue, faintly streaked upperparts, black-streaked white flanks. Black band separates white throat and belly. Wings have two bold white bars. Black bill, legs and feet. Prefers to stay high in the crowns of mature deciduous trees, making it difficult to see.
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Common Peafowl: Peacock. Large pheasant with shimmering blue neck and breast. Face is white and head sports a fan-shaped blue crest. During courtship, long ornate tail is fanned out and held erect. Each tail feather has an eye. It forages and nests on the ground but roosts in the top of trees.
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Cook's Petrel: Small petrel, slate-gray back and upperwings marked by a distinctive black M pattern. Underparts, underwings are white. Face is white with small, dark mask. Wings are long and slender. Tail is gray, black-tipped central feathers and white edges. Black bill, blue-gray legs and feet.
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Common Myna: Large, stocky starling with black hood and patch of bright yellow bare skin behind eye. Overall body plumage is chocolate-brown but undertail, tip of uppertail, wing patches are white. Bill and legs are yellow. AKA Indian Myna and Talking Myna for its ability to imitate human speech.
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Common Sandpiper: Eurasian counterpart to the Spotted Sandpiper; has dusky gray upperparts, heavily streaked breast, and sparkling white underparts. Best distinguished by its habit of standing in a semi-crouch and bobbing back and forth. Flies low over water with stiff shallow wing beats and glides.
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Crested Myna: Medium-sized, black starling with compact bushy crest on forehead, red eyes, prominent white wing patch, white-tipped tail. Bill and legs are yellow. Imitates calls of other birds. Often walks on the ground, foraging for food. Flight is swift and direct on powerful, rapid wing strokes.
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Common Snipe: Longest-billed of all snipes, best identified by broad white stripe at base of underwing. Upperparts cryptically colored with brown and yellow-brown streaks of many different shades. Underparts white but strongly suffused with orange wash, heavily barred and streaked with dark brown.
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Common Ringed Plover: Plump little plover with dark gray-brown upperparts, pure white underparts, and strong black mask and chest band. Base of dark-tipped bill and legs are bright orange. Frequents mudflats. Eats worms, aquatic insects, crustaceans and mollusks. Direct flight with rapid wing beats.
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Common House-Martin: Small swallow, metallic dark blue mantle and crown; wings and tail are black-gray. Forked tail. Solid white rump distinguishes it from other swallows. Legs covered in white down. Flight is graceful, swift and direct on rapidly beating wings. It soars on wide triangular wings.
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Chinese Egret: Population is seriously declining due to competition for living space with humans and other egrets. White overall with shaggy crest, blue-green lores, orange-yellow bill, and black legs with yellow feet. Has been seen feeding on mudflats and tidal flats with other egrets and herons.
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Cackling Goose: Formerly included in the Canada Goose family, this species is smaller with a rounder head and shorter neck and bill. There are four subspecies, we show the hutchinsii that has darker upperparts and a white neck ring. Winters from the southern Great Plains to the western Gulf Coast.
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Common Eider: Large diving duck (v-nigrum), with distinctive sloping forehead, black body, white breast and back. Crown is black and nape is pale green. Wings are white with black primary and secondary feathers. Tail and rump are black. Bill is dull yellow to gray-green (eastern) or orange-yellow (western).
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Common Pochard: Medium-sized, colorful diving duck from Eurasia with a rich red-brown head, black breast and tail, and gray body. Dark bill has a pale gray saddle; eyes are red. Feeds on aquatic plants, dives often, sometimes dabbles. Swift direct flight on rapid wing beats. Flies in a V formation.
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Cory's Shearwater: Large gray-brown shearwater, white underparts, pale yellow bill. Feeds at night on crustaceans and large sqiud it takes from the surface. Best identified by its relatively slow, languid flight compared to other shearwaters. Wings held downward. Soars on fixed wings if wind is up.
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Crescent-chested Warbler: Small warbler, gray to blue-gray head, wings, tail. Yellow-green back, breast, throat are yellow with a rufous-brown spot or crescent on upper breast; belly and sides are white to gray. Head has white eyebrows that widen towards nape and partial lower eye-ring.
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Canyon Wren: Medium wren with rust-brown upperparts, fine white spots on gray-brown back, nape, and crown, white throat and breast, and white-spotted brown belly. Tail is long and brown with thin black bars. Head has a flattened appearance; bill is long, slender, and slightly decurved.
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Cactus Wren: Large wren with black-and-white streaked reddish-brown back, dark crown with distinctive white stripe over eyes, white chin, and heavily spotted white underparts with buff wash on sides and belly. Wings and tail are dark with white bars. Bill is long and slightly decurved.
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Cordilleran Flycatcher: Small flycatcher with olive-brown upperparts, yellow throat and belly separated by olive-gray breast, elongated white eye-ring, and pale wing-bars. Black bill is long and wide, and lower mandible is bright yellow. Weak fluttering flight with shallow wing beats.
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Couch's Kingbird: Large flycatcher, olive-green upperparts, gray head, dark eye patch, white throat, bright yellow underparts. Wings and slightly forked tail are dark. Black legs and feet. Difficult to distinguish from Tropical Kingbird. Slow fluttering flight on shallow wing beats.
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Carolina Chickadee: Small chickadee with gray upperparts, distinct black cap and bib, dull white cheeks, and white underparts with rust-brown flanks. Short, black bill. When disturbed in its nest during incubation, it will hiss and strike intruders, similar to how a snake would act.
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Common Crane: Large wading bird, gray overall with a black face, chin, throat and neck; shows a patch of bare red skin on crown. Broad white stripe extends from behind eye down back of neck. Black flight feathers and short tail are visible in flight. Bill is dull yellow and legs and feet are black.
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Common Swift: Medium-sized swift, dark brown overall with white chin and dark, deeply forked tail. Bill is black, legs and feet are gray. Swift, dashing flight on stiff, rapidly beating wings, alternating with gliding. Can reach speeds of 137 mph and spends most of its life in midair.
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Common Cuckoo: Large cuckoo, gray upperparts, paler underparts with dark bars on belly. Dark gray wings; tail is dark gray with spotting on outer edges near base. Feeds on caterpillars, insects and larvae. Wings are held low in flight, depressed far below body at bottom of downstroke.
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Common Redshank: Large sandpiper, scaled black and brown upperparts, dark-streaked neck and breast, white eye-ring broken in front, pale belly and sides with dark chevrons. Dark wings with white trailing edges visible in flight. Legs are orange-red. Short bill is red with black tip.
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Common Greenshank: Large sandpiper with scaled gray-brown upperparts, white rump, and white underparts, streaked and spotted with brown on flanks and sides. Yellow-green legs. Bill is slightly upturned. Eats small fish, insects and larvae. Swift direct flight with clipped wing beats.
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Common Murre: Medium seabird with brown-black upperparts, throat, white underparts, and long dark bill. Tail is short. Some Atlantic birds have a narrow white eye-ring and stripe extending past the eye. Can dive to depths of more than 240 feet. Feeds on fish and invertebrates. AKA Common Guillemot.
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Common Yellowthroat: Small, skulking warbler with olive-yellow upperparts, bright yellow throat and breast, and pale gray belly. The head has a black mask with a thick white border above, black bill. Legs are pink. Slow weak flight, alternates periods of rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.
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California Gull: Moderately large gull, white body, gray wings, black wing tips. Bill is yellow with red and black spot near tip of bill on lower mandible. Legs are yellow; eye is dark with red orbital ring. Strong direct flight with deep wing beats. Soars on thermals and updrafts.
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Costa's Hummingbird: Medium hummingbird with green back, pale gray underparts and dull green flanks. Crown and throat patch are brilliant metallic purple. Straight black bill. Tail is green with black outer tail feathers. Legs and feet are black. Feeds on nectar, spiders, sap and insects. Direct and hovering flight with very rapid wing beats.
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Calliope Hummingbird: Very small hummingbird, metallic green upperparts and flanks, white underparts. Throat feathers are long, purple-red, appearing as streaks on a white background, whiskers when fluffed out, or dark, inverted V when folded. Direct and hovering flight with very rapid wing beats.
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Chipping Sparrow: Medium, slender sparrow with black-streaked brown back and pale gray underparts. Cap is rufous, nape is gray, throat is white, and face stripes are black-and-white. Black bill. Pink-orange legs and feet. Short flight, alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.
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Cliff Swallow: Small, stocky swallow, dark blue-gray upperparts, pale orange-brown rump, buff underparts. Forehead is white or buff while throat, sides of face are orange-brown. Crown is blue-black, bill is short and black. Tail is dark and squared. Legs and feet are gray. Catches insects in flight.
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California Thrasher: Large, slender thrasher with dark brown upperparts and paler gray-brown underparts. Face is finely streaked, eyes are dark, and black bill is very long and down curved. Throat has small buff patch. Tail is long with reddish-brown undertail coverts. Legs and feet are gray-brown.
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Chestnut-backed Chickadee: Small, energetic chickadee with chestnut-brown back, rump and flanks, and white breast and belly. Cap and throat are black; cheek patch is white. Wings and tail are dark. Legs and feet are gray-black. Song not whistled like other chickadees, more like a sparrow chipping.
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Cooper's Hawk: Medium, agile hawk with dark blue-gray back and white underparts with many fine rufous bars. Cap is darker than upperparts. Eyes are red. The tail is long with thick black-and-white bands. Legs and feet are yellow. Alternates rapid wing beats and short glides, often soars on thermals.
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Cattle Egret: Medium, stocky egret with white body and pale orange-brown patches on head, neck and back. Eyes, bill and legs are orange. This is the only white egret with both a yellow bill and yellow legs. Feeds primarily on insects disturbed by livestock. Direct flight on quick steady wing beats.
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California Quail: Medium quail with distinctive, curled black head plume and white-bordered black throat. Breast is gray and belly is sharply scaled. The flanks are brown with white streaks and back is olive-brown. Legs and feet are gray. Alternates several stiff, rapid wing beats with short glides.
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Canada Goose: Large, long-necked goose with dark upperparts and paler underparts grading to white on vent. The head and neck are black with white chin bar. Body is usually gray-brown, although varies from dark brown to gray in different races. White semi-circle above black tail is visible in flight.
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Common Goldeneye: Medium diving duck, white-striped black upperparts, white underparts. Head is iridescent green-black with white circular patch between yellow eyes and dark gray bill. Wings are dark with large white patches conspicuous in flight. Legs and feet are yellow. Swift, direct flight.
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Canvasback: Large, flashy diving duck with pale gray body and black breast, tail. Head is red-brown with long, sloping profile and long, dark bill. Eye is red. Legs and feet are gray. Feeds primarily on aquatic plants. Rapid direct flight with strong wing beats. Flies high, usually in V formations.
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Crested Caracara: Large, ground-dwelling falcon, black body, finely barred tail, wing panels and upper breast. Head crest is black, facial skin is red, and large bill is blue-gray and hooked. Legs are long and yellow. Strong steady wing beats alternated with long to short glides. Soars on thermals.
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Common Loon: Large loon, white-spotted, black upperparts and white underparts. Head, neck are green-black with white-streaked neckbands. Bill is black and thick. Eyes are red-brown. Dives for small fish and crustaceans. Direct flight on strong deep wing beats, head, neck and feet extend beyond body.
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Common Merganser: Large, sleek diving duck with black upperparts and white underparts. Head and upper neck are green-black with head crest usually not visible. Long, thin bill is bright red. Wings are black with extensive white patches. Feeds on fish, mollusks, crustaceans, insects and plants.
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Common Poorwill: Small, stocky nightjar with pale brown mottled body and white collar separating black throat from narrowly barred underparts. Wings are rounded and tail is short and fan-shaped with outer tail feathers tipped white. Pink-brown legs and feet. Silent flight on quick shallow wing beats.
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Common Nighthawk: Medium nightjar with white-speckled, dark upperparts, black-and-white barred underparts, mottled breast, white throat. Wings are long, dark gray with white bars, nearly covering tail when folded. Gray-brown legs and feet. Darting erratic flight with frequent changes of direction.
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California Condor: Very large raptor with black body, bare-skinned red-orange head, and white wing patches. They can soar for longs periods with minimal wing movement. Locates carrion with its keen eyesight, can survive several days without food. Has the largest wingspan of any North American bird.
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Curlew Sandpiper: Medium-sized sandpiper with mottled rufous, white, and black upperparts. Head, neck and breast are a rich rufous while vent, undertail coverts and underwings are white. Black bill is long and slightly decurved. The legs and feet are black. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
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Common Tern: Medium tern, medium gray upperparts, pale gray underparts, glossy black cap and nape. Wings are dark-tipped and have dark leading edge on forewing. Red bill is black-tipped. Legs are red and tail is deeply forked and elongated. Direct flight, hovers above water before diving for prey.
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Clapper Rail: Large, noisy marsh bird, gray or brown upperparts, vertical white-barred flanks and belly, buff or rust-brown breast. Bill is long, slightly decurved. Gray legs, feet. Feeds at low tide on mudflats or hidden in salt marsh vegetation. Flight is low and fluttering over short distances.
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Caspian Tern: Large, stocky tern with pale gray upperparts, white underparts. Cap is black and may appear weakly crested; large bill is coral-red. Undersides of primaries are gray. Tail is white, relatively short, and slightly forked; legs are black. Hovers above water before diving.
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Clay-colored Sparrow: Medium sparrow with black-streaked brown upperparts and buff underparts. The face is pale with finely streaked crown, crisp brown cheek patch, white eyestripe, and gray nape. Pink-gray legs and feet. Short flight, alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.
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Cassin's Sparrow: Medium, skulking grassland sparrow, fine brown streaks on gray-brown head and back, buff underparts. Tail is long, rounded, white-tipped. Legs, feet are pink-orange. Forages by scratching on the ground. Short flight, alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.
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Clark's Grebe: Large grebe, gray-black upperparts, white underparts, and slender neck with white on front and black on back. White face, black cap extends nearly to red eyes. Bill is yellow-orange. Until the 1980's thought to be a pale morph of the Western Grebe. Direct flight on rapid wing beats.
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Chestnut-collared Longspur: Small, sparrow-like bird with brown-streaked upperparts, black breast and flanks, some have chestnut on underparts, pale gray belly. Face is buff with black stripe behind eye. Nape is chestnut-brown, crown is black, and throat is white. Tail is black with strongly contrasting white outer tail feathers.
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Cassin's Auklet: Small seabird with slate-gray upperparts, pale gray underparts, white belly. Pale yellow eyes with a white crescent patch above them. Short black bill has white spot at base of lower mandible that is visible at close range. Short tail and rounded wings. Rapid direct flight.
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Common Ground-Dove: Small, rounded dove with plain gray-brown back and scaled pink-gray head and breast. Eyes are red and bill is orange-red with black tip. The wings show rufous primaries in flight. Tail is short. Legs and feet are pink. Forages on ground. Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.
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Crested Auklet: Small, oddly attired seabird of Arctic waters with dark gray body. Head has a strange, smiling orange bill, quail-like crest, bright yellow-white eyes and white eye plumes. Legs and feet are gray. Feeds on zooplankton, crustaceans, squid and fish. Swift, low, direct flight.
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Craveri's Murrelet: Small, plump seabird, reminiscent of a small, flying penguin. with black upperparts that extend as a bar onto the side of upper breast, distinct white crescents above and below eyes, white underparts, and dark gray underwing linings. Feeds on crustaceans and small fish.
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Chuck-will's-widow: Large nightjar with entire body complexly mottled with brown, gray, and black. Collar is white, throat is brown, and breast patch is dark brown. The tail is white-edged. Legs and feet are brown. Feeds at night, mostly on insects. Bouyant, silent flight with flicking wing beats.
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Connecticut Warbler: Large ground-walking warbler, olive-gray upperparts, dull yellow underparts. Head has a slate-gray hood and bold white eye-ring. Legs are bright pink-red. It was named for the state where it was first discovered, where it is an uncommon migrant. Sometimes called Swamp Warbler.
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Cassin's Kingbird: Large flycatcher, dark olive-gray upperparts, dull yellow underparts. Mask is dark gray, throat is white and breast is gray. Tail is black with gray or white tip. Black bill, legs and feet. Bouyant fluttering flight with shallow wing beats. Hovers to take insects, berries, fruit.
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Chestnut-sided Warbler: Medium warbler with black-streaked upperparts, white underparts, and chestnut-brown flanks. The cap is bright yellow and moustache stripe is black. Often cocks its tail high above its back as it feeds. The only North American warbler with pure white underparts in all seasons.
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Cassin's Finch: Medium-sized, cheery finch with bright red crown, brown-streaked back. White belly, buff neck,upper breast and rump. Bill tapers evenly to a sharp point. Forages on ground and high in trees, eats mostly conifer seeds and buds, some insects. Swift bounding flight on rapid wing beats.
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