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Blue Grosbeak, I think? (1 Viewer)

Cubkin

Cubkin

Cubkin
This guy spent most of yesterday afternoon in my finch feeders, and I believe it to be a first-year blue grosbeak, but would like some confirmation from someone more familiar with them. We live somewhat north of their usual range and I've never seen one before. There was a female with him who seemed a good match for the female blue grosbeak in my Sibley's, but I didn't manage to get her picture.
 

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Agree with Terry. The small amount of beak I saw is a Grosbeaks.
 
Sorry guys, clearly a molting male Indigo Bunting for me - NOT a Blue Grosbeak. Size vs. feeder, no rufous wingbars, shade of blue, not to mention range problems.
 
Alex, I keep saying I'm a beginner and once again you've proven it :clap:
Still think the beak is a little large for a bunting.
 
Lisa W said:
Alex, I keep saying I'm a beginner and once again you've proven it :clap:
Still think the beak is a little large for a bunting.
Click to expand...

No biggy, Lisa. We all start somewhere. ;)
To comment on the bill, I really can't see it well in either shot. The thing is that the birds' body sizes are really different while their bill size relative-to-body isn't drastic - so this could be misleading.

Was I mistaken about the location, Cubkin? I was assuming Michigan by your location and your comment about being north.
 
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AlexC said:
Sorry guys, clearly a molting male Indigo Bunting for me - NOT a Blue Grosbeak. Size vs. feeder, no rufous wingbars, shade of blue, not to mention range problems.
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HOLY CRAP!!!!!!
I only looked at his second photo and saw the light patterns (which made it appear to have rufous/cinnamon wingbars) and looked at the uneven coloring and assumed male first-year Blue Grosbeak.

I see Blue Grosbeaks all the time and when I see (or think I see) brownish wingbars on an all-blue bird I just assume it is another Blue Grosbeak.

You are absolutely correct AlexC. And I apologize Cubkin for not giving your photographs a detailed enough look.

I am going to go to the corner now and hang my head in shame......
 
Thank you all, but I think I'm going to stick with the blue grosbeak. This bird had a large bill like a grosbeak, was considerably larger than the American goldfinches sharing the feeder and did indeed have rufous/cinnamon wing bars. It was also much larger than the occasional indigo bunting we see and the blue was much deeper than an indigo. I'm afraid the photos may have been misleading in color simply because they were brightly (over)lit by the late afternoon sun.
 
Cubkin said:
Thank you all, but I think I'm going to stick with the blue grosbeak. This bird had a large bill like a grosbeak, was considerably larger than the American goldfinches sharing the feeder and did indeed have rufous/cinnamon wing bars. It was also much larger than the occasional indigo bunting we see and the blue was much deeper than an indigo. I'm afraid the photos may have been misleading in color simply because they were brightly (over)lit by the late afternoon sun.
Click to expand...

...if it was brightly lit, we'd see the rufous wingbars easier. They're a clear brown/blue as expected on a molting male Indigo Bunting.

I've already said everything I can on this thread, maybe others can persuade you to the ID. If nothing else convinces you (which, frankly, it should), range should be a large indicator that this bird isn't a Blue Grosbeak.
 
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Cubkin said:
Thank you all, but I think I'm going to stick with the blue grosbeak. This bird had a large bill like a grosbeak, was considerably larger than the American goldfinches sharing the feeder and did indeed have rufous/cinnamon wing bars. It was also much larger than the occasional indigo bunting we see and the blue was much deeper than an indigo. I'm afraid the photos may have been misleading in color simply because they were brightly (over)lit by the late afternoon sun.
Click to expand...

Cubkin, this bird is not a Blue Grosbeak.

Your "large bill" statement is subjective.
Indigo Buntings *are* larger than American Goldfinches.
There are no visible wingbars in the picture. I saw a shaft of sunlight on mottled/new plumage and hastily assumed it was a wingbar (to be honest, I only barely glanced at the photo). The cinnamon wingbars on Blue Grosbeaks are clearly and diagnostically visible in all plumages.
"Larger" than a bunting is also subjective.
Most people would say that an Indigo Bunting's blue is "deeper" than a Blue Grosbeak.
 
Just looked up Blue Grosbeak on the Michigan Birds Record Committee and it is listed as a review species (record not accepted unless the committee reviews it) with a status of "casual" vagrant - they define casual as: "Species that have been recorded more than three times, but fewer than 30 times, in the last 10 years, and were recorded in fewer than nine of the last 10 years."

Check it out: http://www.michiganaudubon.org/mbrc/mbrc_home.html
 
Hi Cubkin its your list and you can put on it what you like but the bird in the Photo is a Indigo Bunting

Hi Silvio The blue head of Indigo Bunting is normally darker than the rest of the bird so there is no problem here with the colour. Although still in moult this is a male Indigo Bunting
 
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I live in the middle of prime habitat for both indigo buntings and blue grosbeaks. There are places I bird where I can see 4 or 5 male indigos, a couple of blue grosbeaks and painted bunting or two without taking a single step.

The bird is not a blue grosbeak. It is a bunting, most likely an indigo.
 
It is an Indigo Bunting. I have been photographing these birds lately in areas where they share habitat with blue grosbeaks and it is w/o a doubt an Indigo.
 
Ive attached two pics taken from the same group of branches on the ground. The only reason all 3 birds are not in the same shot is because I couldnt back the lens out in time.

One has a male and female Blue Grosbeak. The other a male Indigo Bunting. Pardon the small size and lack of clarity, but the color difference is fairly dramatic as well.
 

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