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Need help with ID- Costa Rica bird (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter gatormom
- Start date
Dave B Smith
Well-known member
Hello Gatormom,
And on behalf of the staff, welcome to the Birdforum. Looks pretty good for Yellow-faced Grassquit to me. Most birds have a bit of variability in colors and I suspect this chin color is within a reasonable range. Hopefully one of our forum's real experts will show up and clinch the ID.
And on behalf of the staff, welcome to the Birdforum. Looks pretty good for Yellow-faced Grassquit to me. Most birds have a bit of variability in colors and I suspect this chin color is within a reasonable range. Hopefully one of our forum's real experts will show up and clinch the ID.
tomjenner
Well-known member
Wow, what a really strange bird. I can't think of anything in Costa Rica that looks like that. As both of you have suggested, the nearest thing to it is Yellow-faced Grassquit, but they don't have such an orange throat and they do not have all black underparts like this bird does. Maybe its an aberrant bird, or an escape. I'll be interested in seeing what other people think. Do you have any other photos?
Welcome to Birdforum. I hope to see some more of your photos from Costa Rica, Florida and elsewhere.
Tom
Welcome to Birdforum. I hope to see some more of your photos from Costa Rica, Florida and elsewhere.
Tom
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the oilbird
Doing a bit for conservation
Id go for Yellow-faced Grassquit as well.
Though agreed I never saw one that looked that black underneath in Panama last year. Most birds i saw looked like the photo attached, taken on Coiba Island in Sept 06...a young bird or do they have a non-breeding plumage like this?
Guess there must be some melanism in gatormom's photo?
Though agreed I never saw one that looked that black underneath in Panama last year. Most birds i saw looked like the photo attached, taken on Coiba Island in Sept 06...a young bird or do they have a non-breeding plumage like this?
Guess there must be some melanism in gatormom's photo?
Attachments
tomjenner
Well-known member
Is it possible that some additional pigmentation on the underparts might be having the dual effect of making the throat orange and the underparts appear unusually dark? On the original photo it is possible to make out a darker breast (as in normal Yellow-faced Grassquits), and that it is not quite as dark on the belly (though still much more than normal). I'm tending strongly towards an aberrant Yellow-faced Grassquit.the oilbird said:
Tom
