Molly, I bet you have more kinds of birds than you realize, too.. When I had knee replacement surgery in late August three years ago I spent a lot of time in a recliner that faced the bird bath, I kept noticing unusual (for me) birds visiting so I kept binoculars and a bird ID book close by. I was very surprised at the number of various bird species migrating through that I had never noticed before.

Those two are on my "possibles" list, thank you! It has so many indications of either one. Really looks more like the Fox, but is small like the Song. Just watched it fly, and it has a woodpecker-type movement. My National Geographic bird book says the Song pumps it's tail in flight. Also, the Fox would be quite out of it's winter range, but that's certainly not unheard of. I'm leaning toward the Song sparrow. Hope I can get a better look at it's head today.

This one is tougher. The presence of the bright eye ring allows one to rule out Veery and Gray-cheeked Thrush. That leaves Swainson's Thrush and Hermit Thrush. I don't see a lot of rufous in the tail of this bird but it is sort of obscured. The uniform coloring on the back, the lack of buff-brown flanks and the presence of what appears to be a dark moustachial stripe extending back from base of the bill leads me to think this is a Swainson's Thrush. That is my best guess based on the photo. BN

Thanks Konrad. Its a pretty dark picture. After searching for images on the internet, I think I'm inclined to think its a young starling. I read that both cowbirds and starlings walk instead of hop, so I'm thinking starling. There have been several adult starlings around, but never with this little one. Maybe I'll try to lighten the pic. I should have done that to start with.