Id help please, west of Ottawa Ontario, July 1, 2023 (2 Viewers)

[bhutjoe]

I have struggled with trying to ID this, without any success at all, and hence am requesting help/ideas on what species this bird is. I believe it was the last one staying of a flock of about 15 ot 20 birds that flew onto the spruce (?) tree and then quickly few off. The bill is not that of a finch or sparrow, which I had assumed the flock was from afar.
Any help, comments much appreciated.
thank you in advance
steve

 

[rkj]

Looks like an American Robin.

 

[foresttwitcher]

spruce (?) tree

The tree is a pine - although I am unsure which species.

 

[bhutjoe]

Thank you for the robin suggestion, I clearly missed photographing any of the flock that flew in then And for correctly iding the tree!!!
all the best

 

[birdmeister]

Might this be a juvenile (European) Starling? Tail looks a bit short for a robin, which typically has a yellow bill (I'm seeing dark). The face and also the patch of paler brown in the wings are good for a young starling.

 

[bhutjoe]

The colour of the head, and that it appears to be uniform, made me think it would be easily identifiable. However, after going through several books and then on-line, I could not find anything that matched. Most puzzling. Photo artifacts perhaps?
I was thinking it does not seem to have the structure nor bill of a starling, nor the tail or bill colour of a robin. Most likely something quite common , such as a robin or starling, though lol.
Thank you for the ideas and taking the time to look at the photos.
steve

 

[gsimonel]

Actually, my first thought was a mourning dove, based on the black bill and the shape of the head.

 

[nartreb]

How about an immature Canada Jay? Beak shape is wrong for robin or starling.

Tree looks like P. strobus, eastern white pine, very common at lower altitudes, latitudes of eastern Canada

 

[bhutjoe]

The head does look dove like but I think the tail is all wrong for morning dove. A Canada Jay would be quite unusual in July in the Ottawa area according to eBird.
Thank you for the tree id, unlike birds they tend to stay still
I would bet it is something quite common but cannot seem to nail it - easier to say why it is not a species than to say why it is a specific one
Thanks nartreb and gsimonel for your suggestions. Something to continue to use while pondering over this one.
all the best
steve

 

[nartreb]

"Flock of 15 to 20" would not be likely for a canada jay anyway -- how about a juvenile common grackle?

 

[KenM]

Can’t compute this!
Believe the nearest suggestion is American Robin…but! don’t they come with yellow bills and white eye arcs?😮

 

[Butty]

head does look dove

Head, maybe - bill, definitely not - nor an American robin (or other thrush) neither.

"Flock of 15 to 20" would not be likely for a canada jay

No evidence that it was part of the flock, and some evidence that it wasn't.

 

[bhutjoe]

I think Butty is correct, that it just happened to be in the tree the flock flew into and out of rather quickly. The flock, none of which I was able to bin much less photo, unfortunately could well have excluded this individual. Grackles, robins, song sparrows, starllings, mourning doves and red-wing blackbirds are all resident in the area. But all of them seem to be excluded by one factor or another. And the flock was not a small group of starlings.
Ah well, a puzzle.
Thanks to everyone for looking and spending time considering and writing down their thoughts. If only I had taken a photo that would be easy to id this photo would have been good for the quizz mode forum
Thanks again
steve

 

[Xelioszzapporro!]

Looks like an American Robin.

American Robins have yellow bill and also have white coloration around their eyes. Their belly is orange/rufous. But it's not seen here.
I really don't think it's an American Robin. The only similarity is the black head

 

[KC Foggin]

American Robin was my first thought after I enlarged it and adjusted the levels.

 

[rkj]

I initially suggested this looked like an American Robin without actually giving it much thought. A young robin has a darker bill than an adult and may have reduced markings on the head; I thought this could be one. Reconsidering, even a young robin should have some pale color on the bill and some light markings on the head. I do still think the bill shape is ok for a robin: medium length, flat on the bottom, and curved toward the distal end on the top. This shape is wrong for a dove or starling. At this point I am not at all sure what it is.

 

[Mike Earp]

I do still think the bill shape is ok for a robin: medium length, flat on the bottom, and curved toward the distal end on the top. This shape is wrong for a dove or starling. At this point I am not at all sure what it is.

Is the bill really wrong for a European Starling?

 

[nartreb]

I'm coming back around to juvenile Starling. Short tail and pale streak in wing are there. There are some needles obscuring the beak shape in one of the photos, I may have written it off too hastily.

I'm still quite convinced it's not a robin.

 

[bhutjoe]

Very interesting comments. thank you
steve

 

[qwerty5]

I can't get the head/bill shape to look right for starling, but nothing else works so that's probably what it is. Flight shape and style of starlings is distinctive, too bad there are no photos in flight.