[erisian.pope]

Taken at my birdfeeder this morning. I can't find anything in Sibley's that matches, except possibly a Cowbird (specifically brown-headed) and I don't think this is that. Based on comparing to the feeder, this bird looks a lot smaller, more like a warbler or something, but the uniform brownness throws me. Yesterday I saw three of these in a nearby oak tree, and two were definitely gleaning the branches of a dying (or going dormant?) redbud tree. So I guess whatever this is feeds socially as opposed to individually.

I do get a lot of house finches and the very rare painted bunting, along with many titmouses, carolina chickadees, cardinals, and white-wing doves (to give a feel for the general area), with a pretty rare carolina wren.

Does anyone have a guess for me?

[Hamhed]

Bill looks a little long but my first thought was a female Bunting of some species. in Interesting that you saw it gleaning insects but, in the picture, it is on a millet feeder.

Steve

[Motmot]

Juvenile Painted would be my guess.

http://anngardnerphotography.com/sto...g_juvenile.htm

http://www.bigcountryaudubon.org/gal..._2612.jpg.html

[erisian.pope]

Steve - it's possible the small brown birds yesterday were a different species - I have some really terrible photos I'll post in a bit but they're useless for ID, I think. General size and coloration looked the same, but I didn't get a good look at bill at all on yesterday's birds. So perhaps my mention of yesterdays is a red-herring. Sorry for muddying the water.

Thank you both. I had considered Bunting but the only one that matched from Sibley's was Varied (others show streaking), and that looks really rare. The only male Bunting I've seen in the area is Painted. Sibley's shows juveniles (both M and F) as being pretty greenish, so I didn't really consider juvenile. Motmot, thanks for those links.

I'll try to monitor over the next few days and see if I can get more pictures.

[erisian.pope]

Here's one of the little brown birds from yesterday.

[Peter C.]

This last photo looks very bunting-ish - like a juvenile Indigo. Do you have breeding Indigo Buntings in the area?

[erisian.pope]

Peter, according to Sibley's I'm in their migration path, but a little too far west for their summer location. I have never seen a male Indigo Bunting (that I am aware of) but may be it's possible their summer range has expanded some since my Sibley's was published (2007)?

EDIT: The second picture is one of the birds that was gleaning branches yesterday, and Cornell's site does list the Indigo Bunting as a foliage-gleaner. The Varied and Lazuli's are both listed as ground-foragers, and the Painted is listed as a ground-forager who prefers seeds (the others are all listed as preferring insects).

So maybe yesterday's birds were Indigo while today's is Painted?

[Hamhed]

Here in western NC, the Indigo Buntings in our yard are still feeding their young with insects. (I don't know how they'd get those insects if they weren't gleaning some kind of foliage. We have very little grass on our property.) They seem to be, primarily, seed eaters. So, maybe they'll come back to the feeder and you'll get a second shot.

Steve

[erisian.pope]

There were three similar birds in the tree behind the feeders. At any given moment there weren't more than two on the feeder, but I only got shots of this one. Seeing how green it is, I believe this is a Painted Bunting. It looks like there is less contrast between wings and torso in this shot than in the thread's very first image, so I suspect these are different birds.

But what do you all think?

[Peter C.]

Yes, in this light, it looks like a fledgling Painted Bunting.

[erisian.pope]

Thanks! Do you think it might be the same bird as the first image at the top of the thread?

Also, Buntings are really really skittish!

[Motmot]

They could be the same I guess. Both show a longer than the rest, rounded tail feather (moulted possibly), but not sure if I see exactly the same tail 'design' on each bird, tricky.