tag@tty3b.UUCP ("Tom Gloger"3974 97320) (02/25/85)
I'd like some opinions from experienced birders. We live 30 miles northwest
of Chicago. On February 24th, at 7:30 am, my wife and I spotted a new (to
us) bird at our front-yard feeder.
It was the color of a slate-junco, about the size of a starling, and had a
short, stout, dark beak. The head looked lighter than the body. Compared
to the house-sparrows we normally have, it's movements seemed slow and
deliberate. (Are "mannerisms" a valid identifying feature?)
Was it a brown-headed cowbird?
The picture of the brown-headed cowbird in the Golden Field Guide to Birds
of North America matched almost exactly, but the accompanying map indicated
we shouldn't expect to see them around here until April. How much faith
should we place in those maps? I recall them being "right-on" when it came
to identifying a transient white-crowned sparrow during migration.
BTW:, Do starlings normally develop small white spots in the winter? The
Golden Field guide is somewhat sketchy about seasonal color changes. I had
to find out about mallard drakes from a kid's magazine.
Tom Gloger
AT&T Teletype Corporation
Skokie, Illinois
ihnp4!ltuxa!tty3b!tag
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Tom Gloger
AT&T Teletype Corporation
Skokie, Illinois
ihnp4!ltuxa!tty3b!taggrm@piggy.UUCP (G.R.MAHLER) (02/26/85)
It sounds like brown-headed cowbird is the correct identification.
There is no reason not to begin expecting some cowbirds to be arriving
in the Chicago area at this time (especially if you have recently had
a few days of mild weater as we've been havin in NJ) Actually I would expect
that you might even have a small numer of this species overwinter in your
area. The maps in the field guides have to be interpreted with a bit
of care. Arrival dates have to be tempered by a number of factors such as
local and regional weather patterns. The dates represent an "average" for
the major influx in a "typical" year. Also a small percentage of the birds
of a particular species might not have read the book - (i.e. there are
always a few oddballs - this is one of the things that makes birdwatching
interesting - stange birds may show up at strange times or places)
Yes manerisms are a valid identifying feature in many instances. Plumage
is not always the only way to identify birds (in some cases - e.g. the
Empidonax flycatchers - voice in almost required brefore a certain
identification can be made ). Posture, speed of movement, swaying or bobbing
movements, walking vs. hopping, crawling on treetrunks/upwards (brown creeper)
vs. crawling on treetrunks/head downwards(nuthatches), feeding practices,
speed of wingbeats, depth of wingbeats, and many many other mannerisms
are important features of the identification process.
Yes starlings do have white tipped featers in winter plumage. These are
obtained in the post-breeding moult (fall). The white spots dissapear
as winter progresses due to feather tip wear. The spring "plumage" without
the white spots is not the result of an additional moult.
Glenn Mahler
AT&T Bell Labs
Whippany, N.J.jug@whuxlm.UUCP (Grauman Joseph) (11/18/85)
I need some help in identifying a bird I saw yesterday at our feeder. Generally, the bird looks like a finch in size (approx. 6"), shape, and beak, yet I couldn't find it in my bird book (Birds of North America by Robbins, Bruun, and Zim, 1983 edition), even though it had some striking markings. As I mentioned above, the bird lokked like a finch overall. Its head was bright red from just behind the ears to the front, including the throat. Upper mandible was dark and lower mandible was light. The body was pure white, except that, in the middle top of the head (where the red ends), a triangular dark gray patch starts and spreads to the wings which have the same coloration with some white feathers showing longitudonally. The tail is also gray and rather slim. I should also mention that I live in northern NJ, and the backyard borders some deciuous woods. The bird was feeding on the ground first, and then in the feeder along with the sparrows. I would appreciate your help. Joseph U. Grauman AT&T-Bell Labs, Morristown, NJ (201) 898-1540