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help id bird orange/bright orange beak, NH (1 Viewer)

Hello
I live in NH. and saw a bird today eating some berries and the freshly falling snow. I have never seen this bird before and I cant find it in any bird book or on the web.

The bird has an orange breast. Not quite a vivid as a cardinal red, but still fairly strong in color- more like a robin. He has a round head, black eye. There is white around his eye. He has a very bright orange beak, and the feathers under the beak where his beak joins his body are white.. Long tail. Body is like a mix of white and dark brown/black. white underside. Medium sized- not quite as big as a cardinal or robin, but almost.

I am VERY curious a to what this is. I have never seen it before, and we don't get a ton of birds at this time of the year.
thanks!
 
nope- not a towhee. Close in appearance, but has a bright orange beak, rounder head, and not as much black. More orange on breast, entire brest is the orange color
 
Hi, Terrie! I see these are your first posts, so a warm welcome to you from all of us on staff here at BirdForum!

Kind of sounds like a leucistic American Robin. Any chance of getting a photo of this bird and posting it?
 
I ran to get my camera, and it was gone. I got a good look at it through binocs..hopefully if it come back, I can get a photo. It looked quite a bit like a robin on the breast. Black eye, with white patch around it.
 
I'd be willing to bet then that it's got a bit of leucism (white/light patches in feathers) going. Not an uncommon phenomenon but can certainly make some birds a challenge to ID. :t: Good luck on getting a photo. Always fun to see unusual birds.
 
I think you are all correct. It IS a robin, but it looks different than the robins we see in the spring. It was much more ruffled looking, but maybe that is because it is not supposed to be here at this time of year!

I thought robins migrated to a warmer climate in winter. It is pretty cold here- about 15 degrees today, and heavy snow. But it's been a warm winter up until today! Maybe he "forgot" to migrate? I know that doesn't make sense, but, does it happen?

we have a couple of acres of propoerty, wooded, swampy in spots, and berrie galore, so, we get a ton of birds

This is a great website- thanks to all for your help!

terrie
 
Don't know when American Robins appear in the northeast, but where I live in high, alpine, northern AZ, we never see them until fall and they stay the winter, feeding off the juniper berries and assorted bugs they can find on the ground. This winter is weird in that we have no snow at all, but the temps are still down into the single digits (F.) at night

Makes it hard to understand where the "harbinger of spring" idea came from ;) (although I suspect that might be from Old World poetic literature).
 
In the Northeast, the American Robin is a sign that Spring is coming- we usually see them in late March/early April. That is why I am having a hard time believing this was a robin, but it must have been

I hope it comes back so that I can take a photo!

terrie
 
terriebari said:
Hello
I live in NH. and saw a bird today eating some berries and the freshly falling snow. I have never seen this bird before and I cant find it in any bird book or on the web.

The bird has an orange breast. Not quite a vivid as a cardinal red, but still fairly strong in color- more like a robin. He has a round head, black eye. There is white around his eye. He has a very bright orange beak, and the feathers under the beak where his beak joins his body are white.. Long tail. Body is like a mix of white and dark brown/black. white underside. Medium sized- not quite as big as a cardinal or robin, but almost.

I am VERY curious a to what this is. I have never seen it before, and we don't get a ton of birds at this time of the year.
thanks!

As far as Robins seen in the winter in the northwest, it is not uncommon, what you get are Robins from farther north migrating south and only going farther south when forced by storms or colder weather. Robins are not uncommonly seen on Christmas counts, etc. I live in upstate NY and there is a flock that came through last week eating all the berries on my high bush cranberry.
 
dhasmith said:
As far as Robins seen in the winter in the northwest, it is not uncommon, what you get are Robins from farther north migrating south and only going farther south when forced by storms or colder weather. Robins are not uncommonly seen on Christmas counts, etc. I live in upstate NY and there is a flock that came through last week eating all the berries on my high bush cranberry.

I support this.
What you see more of in the winter are flocks of Robins. They all congregate in wooded areas where there is a better food supply. And they aren't breeding, so spreading out individually isn't necessary.
I am in Troy and just driving around outside of this tiny city, I have seen a number of Robins(flocks), throughout the winter.
 
robin looking bird

I have seen a previous post regarding this bird seen in NH by a previous member but I never saw the result. I have a large berry type tree in my yard. When I looked out I saw about 20 birds. My first response was holy crow what are robins still doing here since its Jan 09 with snow on the ground. They are eating the berries. After a closer look the birds are nearly identical to a robin a shade and size. They have a brilliant orange/red breast, body feathers greyish, wing feathers highlighted with a whiter smoked grey color. They have a faint white circle around their eyes, white under their chin, and a white bum under the tail feathers. I live in RI. Does anybody know what these are. I am an avid outdoors person and I don't recall seeing them before.

Thanks for any help
Dave
 
My first guess, Dave, would be Ceder Waxwings. They are common enough but you only see them for a short time while they eat all the berries on a tree or bush and then move on. You never see just one of them either.
 
Makes it hard to understand where the "harbinger of spring" idea came from ;) (although I suspect that might be from Old World poetic literature).

Actually, in the UK robins are more "Christmas birds" than anything else. They're resident there and are ubiquitous on Christmas cards. The association of robins with spring is I think quintessentially North American.
 
orange beak in Ontario Canada

Hi,

Googled and got your website. I wonder if the bird I've seen is the same as yours in NH. Orange beak, size of a robin but neck not as long. Green in its body. I've checked my Birds in Ontario book and there's nothing there. I'd really like to know what this bird is.

Birdie
 
Hello
I live in NH. and saw a bird today eating some berries and the freshly falling snow. I have never seen this bird before and I cant find it in any bird book or on the web.

The bird has an orange breast. Not quite a vivid as a cardinal red, but still fairly strong in color- more like a robin. He has a round head, black eye. There is white around his eye. He has a very bright orange beak, and the feathers under the beak where his beak joins his body are white.. Long tail. Body is like a mix of white and dark brown/black. white underside. Medium sized- not quite as big as a cardinal or robin, but almost.

I am VERY curious a to what this is. I have never seen it before, and we don't get a ton of birds at this time of the year.
thanks!
I live in maine and i didnt know if you found what the bird was yet. I have a picture and of the male and female IN MY BACKYARD. I beleive this is the mystery bird. let me know
https://mothermandy.sslpowered.com/bird.jpg
Northern CARDINAL
 
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Two other posters saw one like this,.....HELP. and It wasn't a robin.....

Hello everyone. So glad to find this site. One person from NH saw a similar bird that I saw today, a few times. I have searched books and the internet but have been unable to find this bird.
It too had a very bright orange cracker beak that I have never seen before. It's breast was a rusty/orange colour similar to a robins, but definitely was NOT a robin. It had a black cap upon it's head, and every time I saw it, it's orange/rust tail was opened like a fan. It appeared to have something like a (mane) of feathers around it's neck. The rest was brown/black, grey and white.
It was eating cones/nuts from the cedar trees in a neighbours yard.
Any help?

I see that two other posters did not find an answer. I hope I can.........i am relentless!!
Living in Hamilton, Ontario............End of August 2011
Thanks
 
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