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Dwarf Birds? (1 Viewer)

Chickadeedeedee

Well-known member
This morning while on the back steps I saw a wee bright red crested bird. A Cardinal! But he was as small as a House Wren!!! He sang like a Cardinal but was soooo tiny!

Has anyone seen a dwarf bird?
 
I have never seen a particularly small bird - I suppose it would be a kind of runt? There is some variation among birds of a particular species, but I'm surprised to hear of one that is noticeably smaller.
 
Dwarfism is fairly common in domestic fowl such as chickens, but I've never heard of it in wild birds. Your cardinal could be quite unique! Any chance of some photos with other birds or something else for scale?
 
This morning I caught sight of the smallest little goldfinch on the bird feeder. She was smaller than most birds, including other finches. It is unusual to see goldfinch in Ohio on the feeder in the middle of January. She seemed especially eager to eat, and was not bothered by my grabbing a camera to snap a few photos of her. Wow! I never even knew there were dwarfed birds. Amazing!
 
Something I have not really come across or heard of myself in wild birds has to be a rare thing I can only think of A kind of runt type sized bird myself.
 
This morning I caught sight of the smallest little goldfinch on the bird feeder. She was smaller than most birds, including other finches. It is unusual to see goldfinch in Ohio on the feeder in the middle of January. She seemed especially eager to eat, and was not bothered by my grabbing a camera to snap a few photos of her. Wow! I never even knew there were dwarfed birds. Amazing!

Dwarfism among wild birds is rare afaik. You would make the Cornell researchers very happy if you could get some pictures of the bird.
There is a Lesser Goldfinch endemic to the Western US, but it is not even 20% smaller than our local species , the American Goldfinch.
 
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