what am i' Bird'

15 years ago

This is my first time posting at the birding site,however i'm a member in many of the other forums here,like cottage garden,kitchen table ,calif gardenig and several others.

My name is Kathi and i live in S.calif along the coast.

My question is,does anyone know what this bird is?? He sits out on top of the humming bird feeder everyday.He never drinks from it,just sits and watches the hummers.He seems to have a good size beak,however i don't think that he/she is a hummer.Has a white breast and a charcoal colored body and looks about the size of a robin,oriole,that type of bird.

Anyone know what it is,and what it likes to eat??

TIA

Kathi

I know the 2nd picture is blurry,i just used it to show you the size of the bird.

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Comments (8)

marricgardens
15 years ago
I may be wrong, but I think it's a slate junco.
donald lucius
15 years ago
looks like a black phoebe to me. they usually perch and watch for insects and often catch them mid air.they do eat small seed like millet when there are no insects around. they hang out most often around where there is water such as a stream or lake or river bank. they are mostly common in southern ca. thru arizona ans new mexico into west texas
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alan_la
15 years ago
Yes It's a Black Pheobe, a member of the fly catcher family,and usually hang around water for insects, they are not looking at Hummers they are looking for flies.
donald lucius
15 years ago
i live in southwest Colorado and there are confirmed sightings here in spring and summer along the rivers and streams and ponds and resevoirs they build their nests under bridges and cliffs or overhangs along the water the local birders say that they eat the wild berrys and fruit on bushes along the rivers and do eat grass seeds but that insects and bugs and grasshoppers are their main diet here.they change to lower elevations in cold weather and the snowy times of year. but in your case they would probably be year around because of the mild climate
catherinet
15 years ago
I would have guess junco too, since I'm not familiar with all the so. california birds. But I think one thing that's a give-away that its not a junco, is that they prefer cooler weather and go north for the summer. Am I correct about this? I know here in Indiana, the juncos only show up in the winter.
donald lucius
15 years ago
the junco has a sparrow type longer thinner tail and white feathers on the sides of the tail. also has a stubbier yellowish pink bill for cracking seeds. the phoebe has a longer thin bill and is dark. also the juncos head up into the higher elevations in the early spring and nest up in the mountain meadows and even the tundra above timbeline.
they don't come back down till after the mountains a coated with snow and it starts to have snow showers in the
lower elevations
marricgardens
15 years ago
Thanks for the describing the difference between the two. I'm trying to brush up on my birdwatching skills.
kathi_mdgd
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks everyone,he/she comes everyday usually in the mornings and sits there and watches the hummers, or flies off to sit on the corner post of the picket fence.Last year was the first time i saw him,but he came back again this year.How lucky am i??Love to watch all the different birds.
kathi

what am i' Bird'

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