Unknown bird

[tompritch]

My wife and I were hiking on Mount Lassen and we observed a bird that was all black and had an orange bill. It was between the size of a blackbird and a crow. We were at about 9000 feet elevation. Does anyone have any ideas what this type of bird might be?

[ayasuda]

Was the bird by the beaver pond, or was it clinging to a tree, or was it by manzanita lake.

[tompritch]

The bird was actually flying by in the general direction from emerald lake toward manzanita lake. I'm just not aware of any birds of that size with orange beaks although I did see a picture of a blackbird/thrush (back east) that had an orange bill.

[ayasuda]

I was there not long ago, and I don't remember seeing any birds with orange beaks. The only species that might come close is the European Starling. They have an yellow orange bill and they do like to hang out near Manzanita Lake. I looked at the compiled list of birds seen in the past and I don't see anything else that comes close. Anybody else out there that has recently gone to Lassen.

[tompritch]

Well, after looking at several pictures online, I think that might be the bird we saw. I'll be more alert next time. Thank you for the help!

[ayasuda]

As a fan of Lassen, I highly recomend the old beaver pond.