CLOSED: Townsend's Solitaire?

This is two separate birds in the same tree. They seemed to be together and so the same type of bird. My best guess is Townsend's Solitaire.

My first impression is a Mountain Bluebird. In the first photo, I seem to see a distinct contrast on the breast/belly area down to white below the tail. A Solitaire doesn't seem to show the contrast, at least in the photos I've looked through. Do you happen to have any other photos? I'd like to see the forehead area/ bill more clearly.

Look at these photos from All About Birds to see the difference in the bills.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/spp_photos.aspx?spp=1&sppid=504&keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=488&width=875

I have no personal experience with either of these two birds, so I could be way off. I hope Resin will come by. :)

Ditto to Mountain Bluebird

Resin

There were a lot of mountain bluebirds in the area, probably the most common bird sighted that day. Pro, increases the odds of me seeing a bluebird; con, decreases the odds of me not recognizing a bluebird. We did see them in flight and there was no blue on the wings or back at all. Also I thought they were slightly larger than the bluebirds, but I have misjudged size before.

I looked again at your photos. The All About Birds' page (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id) has this tidbit...
"On perched Townsend’s Solitaires, the folded wings fall well short of the tip of the very long tail, while the very long wings of Mountain Bluebird nearly reach the tail tip. "

On the page I linked to in my first comment, I looked at both birds' winged and can clearly see the difference. I think I see the wing tip on your photos. It looks long enough to be a Bluebird.

Okay I concede defeat. Thanks for the tip about the wing tips.
I will continue to look for a Solitaire for 2015.

I hope you get your Solitaire. :) I know what it is like to look for a bird and then it be something else.

Well, I thought the Bluebird had defeated the Solitaire, but the Solitaire is still in the contest.
I was hiking with my sister the day I took the photo. When I told her that they turned out to be Bluebirds, she said "But we were surrounded by Bluebirds, and you took that photo because they were something different!" Like me, she remembers them as being slightly larger than the Mountain Bluebirds. Wish I had taken more photos.
I might head out to some better Solitaire habitat closer to home and try to get a definite Solitaire - then I can count it with a clear conscience.

This message was edited Sep 27, 2015 2:12 PM

Local expert says these are juvenile Mountain Bluebirds, which can appear slightly larger than the adults.