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new bird id help

8 years ago

I've been seeing so many new birds that I can't identify and it's driving me crazy! I just started bird watching abt the beginning of the year or maybe December.

Anyway, this is a small red bird, abt the size of a goldfinch, with black and white wing and tail feathers that look zebra-like. It looks like somebody took an american gold finch and dipped it in red paint and all the gold parts turned red. The difference is the red bird does not have the black patch on the top of the head like the goldfinch does.

It's not a house finch or a purple finch (smaller and redder), and it's not a scarlet tanager (bcs of zebra striped wings), not a vermillion flycatcher, nothing I have seen on the internet after hours of searching.

2 of them came back this morning but were gone by the time I could grab my binoculars. Any ideas?

Featured Answer

Atlamol

8 years ago

And not a white-winged crossbill? Maybe an exotic. Where do you live?

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Comments (9)

User
Original Author
8 years ago
Sorry, I accidentally posted twice and can't figure out how to delete.
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Readers Digest Book of North American Birds; ISBN 0895773511; 1990. A Fufous-sided Towhee: Pipilo erythrophthalmus: "Scratching about with one foot at a time, like barnyard poultry, rufous-sided towhees gather their food from the very bosom of the earth. It is little wonder, then, that these active birds used to be called ground robins, especially since their well-hidden nests of stems and leaves are nestled so close to the ground. Today they are named towhees because that is the sound most people hear in their song. But they were once known as chewinks, from the call they make when alarmed. In some parts of the West that call is phonetically transcribed as shrenk, while in others it sounds more like the meowing of catbirds. In sections of the Southeast they unquestionably call Louise! And although their song is translated into English in most parts of the country as "chip towhee" or "drink your tea," the birds seem to drawl it in the South, and are apt to sing chip chup chup zeeeeeee, or just a buzzy zeeeeee, in the West. Their visual field marks too are almost as varied as their vocal ones. Rusous-sided towhees in Florida have white eyes instead of red ones, and those in the West have two white wing bars plus numerous white spots on their wings and backs. But no matter where they live, all rufous-sided towhees come flying in low to the ground with the side patches in their tails looking like white chiffon streamers trailing dramatically behind them."
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tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
What Atlamol said or a pine grosbeak, perhaps?

tj
User thanked tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
User
Original Author
8 years ago
Atlamol, I was just coming to post a pic I found of a white winged crossbill! But there are 2 probs: 1) I haven't gotten a good look at the beAk yet and 2) I live in northwest GA. My book shows there may be a pocket of red crossbills in this area but does not show any white winged presence. It also says they very rarely show up at feeders but that's where I'm seeing these birds.

tsugajunki, I also thought pine grosbeak for a while but then realized it's larger than the bird I'm seeing.

There are quite a few of these in my yard - maybe up to 10. What in the world would they be doing so far away from their territory? According to my book (Peterson) they don't even migrate here.
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Well, if it looks like a white-winged crossbill (except for verifying the bill), then I'd lean that way. Birds can and do show up sometimes where books say they are rare. Keep those binoc's (and/or camera) handy and let us know about the bill.

tj
Atlamol
8 years ago
If it were just one or two birds, or if you lived in someplace like Florida or southern California where there are a lot of exotic birds gone wild, I would just shrug them off as escaped cage birds. But ten birds in northwest Georgia sounds like a native species. There are no Georgia records for white- winged crossbills, not even as accidentals (as you note, there are for red crossbills). Are there females in that flock? What do they look like? Gotta get a picture! And if they do turn out to be w.w. Crossbills and you have a good picture, there is probably a Georgia rare bird committee that would like to see it.
User
Original Author
8 years ago
My binoculars are borrowed and not very good and I can't get anywhere near the birds - they fly away at the sight of me. My real camera is broken and my phone camera is worthless. So I may never know. It already seems there are fewer of them.
PRO
moico inc.
8 years ago
There is a fantastic app called " Merlin Bird ID" - t's fun to use and I've found it very easy to determine what birds I have using it . Try it -fabulous!
User thanked moico inc.
User
Original Author
8 years ago
Shoot! I don't have enough space to install it. I'll have to wait until I can figure out what can be deleted.

Thanks! Can't wait to give it a try!

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