BN, that was really great description/comparison between the two. Thanks much for your input. Think you, Jan, and beegood are right on about it being a song sparrow! -mxyplx, maybe a new prescription is in order??? ;-) This guy isn't a Junco, but don't you just love those little guys? Never used to have them (or at least see them) around this particular area until a few years ago. Now they are all over the place and I am very glad of it! Think the ones around here may be the Oregon Junco... CMK

Boy, that was fast. Thank you very much, Jud. For the life of me I could not find them in Sibley - now I have thanks to you.

Your friend has a Cardinal with missing feathers on its head. For some reason Cardinals & Blue Jays seem to have this problem often. Can be caused by mites. Usually does not hurt the bird, except for other birds making fun of it. Susan

I agree. with Claire They always show up here all at once, usually in November. You can tell them for sure by their couple of white tail feathers when they fly. The females are brownish.