[stuey]

This afternoon around 4:30, with a light rain falling along the Midtown Greenway bike trail in St. Louis Park MN, I noticed a small-ish yellow fellow, passerine-like, a bit smaller than a cardinal but bigger than a finch. He flew up into a low branch - and sure didn't mind me coming a lot closer for a look; this was one non-skittish bird.

Since it was overcast and he was in the leaves' shadow, I couldn't read the colors too well, but I am fairly certain he had some yellow in the lower breast area, as well as a smattering of yellow or yellow-tipped feathers in the center of the tail. There was some nice black and grey striping on the head, but NOT the dark black bars that you'd see on a male American Goldfinch (none of the yellow on this bird was Goldfinch-bright). A very distinct crest on its head made me doubt it's a female goldfinch or black-capped chickadee either.

Any ideas?

[Silverwolf]

Originally Posted by stuey

This afternoon around 4:30, with a light rain falling along the Midtown Greenway bike trail in St. Louis Park MN, I noticed a small-ish yellow fellow, passerine-like, a bit smaller than a cardinal but bigger than a finch. He flew up into a low branch - and sure didn't mind me coming a lot closer for a look; this was one non-skittish bird.

Since it was overcast and he was in the leaves' shadow, I couldn't read the colors too well, but I am fairly certain he had some yellow in the lower breast area, as well as a smattering of yellow or yellow-tipped feathers in the center of the tail. There was some nice black and grey striping on the head, but NOT the dark black bars that you'd see on a male American Goldfinch (none of the yellow on this bird was Goldfinch-bright). A very distinct crest on its head made me doubt it's a female goldfinch or black-capped chickadee either.

Any ideas?

Um. Cedar Waxwing maybe?

[stuey]

Originally Posted by Silverwolf

Um. Cedar Waxwing maybe?

On seeing your post, I looked at the photos of those at allaboutbirds, and....


I TOTALLY SAW A CEDAR WAXWING!!!!

Thank you, Silverwolf!!!