google brown headed cowbird photos and look i belive you will see a match

Standing on its head, which is amazing.

That's it Elly, An Australian Cowbird.

Jaqui, I'm just having fun with Elly.

Many thanks Alan, Elly et al for your suggestions. Sorry about upside down pic. Maybe that's why you thought it was Australian. If so a very long way from home. Having a holiday in the south of France? Amazing we managed to send it at all. Any way I don't think it looks like any of the pics I googled. Longer beak and not the same colouring.

Well done team, you were right. I have at last found the strange bird on google and it IS a brown headed cowbird. What it is doing in my garden in the south of France I don't know, but the entry on google does say that it sometimes mixes with European starling flocks when migrating. There have been 1 or 2 sitings in UK according to google. It seems to have gone now, but thanks for all your help. Jacqui

here anyway the cowbirds often flock with the redwing blackbirds. Local bird experts say that the female cowbird will come to the feeders and eat with the blackbirds and when a female leaves for her nest the female cowbird will follow her and find the nest and lay an egg in it. she might lay en egg in as many a a 1/2 dozen nests. The blackbirds raise the young cowbirds as their own.

Starling moulting from juvenile to adult winter plumage?

{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Starling Feathers and moulting

hi Starlinka, thanks for amazing pix of moulting starlings, but having looked on google...Cornell identification "All about birds" under brown headed cowbird, that is definitely what it was. It has now been gone nearly a week. I just don't know what it was doing here in the south of France, apart from there being a few sitings in UK. It would be useful to know where others on forum are in the world. Bye, Jacqui