Help, please! - Black Bird with Large White Half Moons on Wings (1 Viewer)

[Badger Mom]

I saw it, too!

I found this forum while searching for an identification for a black bird with white half moons on its wings which I saw up in a tree and then soaring above my lawn about a week ago. I still don’t know what it was, but it fits this description, including giving me the initial impression of some sort of woodpecker. Since I’m not that far from the other sighting, I’m guessing we saw the same species, whatever it is.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Like Niels, my immediate thought was an escaped mynah species. Call could fit too.

 

[Joelash]

Similar Bird Markings

Ok, I don't know if we are talking about the same bird but there are similarities. Yesterday I was in Dothan, AL, driving my truck when I saw a fairly large bird, about the size you described dart into a yard and then fly straight up. I only saw it for a moment and am not positive about everything I saw. It appeared to be completely black but can't say I saw top and bottom of the bird. I can't tell you the shape of the wings or tail or anything like that. I am positive of one thing and that is the white markings on the bird. I guess they could be described as half moon-like. These were actually rectangular shape with the corners rounded and the trailing edge of the wing appeared straight where it was white. It reminded me of flaps on an airplane if you are familiar with that. I think I saw the top side of the bird but could have been the bottom. I did make a sketch to send friends. If I can attach it, I will.
I think the pix posted.

 

[howiewu]

Wow, the thread that never dies!

Sorry I have nothing to contribute.

 

[Joelash]

Hello!

I just joined the forum after seeing a very intriguing bird and being unable to get any hint of what it was. I've included all the information I can think of. Any other questions let me know. All suggestions appreciated!


Color:All black, except for big distinctive white half moons on center lower half of wings (facing away from head).

Size, shape: approx. 7-12 inches, both beak to tail and wingspan, shape was reminiscent of woodpecker, kingfisher, crow, grackle ........?

Call: a few "whooooop whoooop" at a time, starting lower and rising quickly to a very high last note

Flight: flew straight up, stopped, dropped into a free fall, caught itself making a big swoop as it flew up again or back over to a new tree perch. Was perching between bush and high tree level around a brushy meadow, but not on ground.

Location: It was in an area very well-known as a migratory spot along the shore of Lake Michigan, a couple miles north of Chicago. Because of this, it has been harder to know what guides to look at because I've seen other birds here that are not "supposed" to be in the area.

I know you haven't been on the forum in a while but I would like for you to look at my post and the sketch of the bird I made that I think may be similar to yours.

 

[mark clements]

Curve ball, but Northern Mockingbird has moon shaped white wing markings,
I know its grey, not black, I know it does not match other descriptors given, but if its moon shaped white patches you want...
C.f.. loggerhead and northern strikes.

 

[Lover of birds]

Help, please! - Black Bird with Large White Half Moons on Wings. Chicago, MI, USA

Hello!

I just joined the forum after seeing a very intriguing bird and being unable to get any hint of what it was. I've included all the information I can think of. Any other questions let me know. All suggestions appreciated!


Color:All black, except for big distinctive white half moons on center lower half of wings (facing away from head).

Size, shape: approx. 7-12 inches, both beak to tail and wingspan, shape was reminiscent of woodpecker, kingfisher, crow, grackle ........?

Call: a few "whooooop whoooop" at a time, starting lower and rising quickly to a very high last note

Flight: flew straight up, stopped, dropped into a free fall, caught itself making a big swoop as it flew up again or back over to a new tree perch. Was perching between bush and high tree level around a brushy meadow, but not on ground.

Location: It was in an area very well-known as a migratory spot along the shore of Lake Michigan, a couple miles north of Chicago. Because of this, it has been harder to know what guides to look at because I've seen other birds here that are not "supposed" to be in the area.

Hi, did the bird have black eyes and red legs/feet? if so, it was a

Black guillemot​

 

[foresttwitcher]

Hi, did the bird have black eyes and red legs/feet? if so, it was a

Black guillemot​

Unlikely to see one perching in a bush near Chicago.

 

[Mono]

This surely is the thread that will not die! How do people find it?

The original poster hasn't been back since the day they asked the question nearly 13 years ago!

 

[AveryBartels]

While this may be the thread that never dies, what surprises me even more is that I don't think anyone suggested Pileated Woodpecker. Seems like a pretty perfect match for the original description - overall black, undulating flight, call could be a match (as much as anybody's written description of a call can be interpreted), size and impression the type of bird that included "woodpecker, white in wings etc.

 

[Earnest lad]

If you are a newbie, perhaps you saw a redwinged blackbird in some kind of unusual plumage

 

[Craig Thayer]

There are no eBird reports of Phainopepla in IL . I used to live in Chicago (now in Arizona) and I seem to remember that many years ago there was a Phainopepla in Milwaukee WI(just north of Chicago) that turned out to be an escaped cage bird . So if the bird was PHAI it could have been an escapee or else if can be relocated it would apparently be a first state record

 

[Craig Thayer]

After reading the original post, the location where the mystery bird was observed is almost certainly Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary (just north of downtown Chicago) which is a well-known popular location( I visited often when I lived in Chicago) that attracts many vagrants. As of April 2012, there have been 348 species documented there.