I Knew It! (1 Viewer)

Hello from the central California coast. I’ve been attracting birds with seeds. There are so many different kinds here! I tried to find out what this particular bird is but google was not help so I thought “I bet there’s a forum of really smart bird nerds who can help and I knew it! Here you are! I’m really enjoying all the different varieties. The one I saw today was just Plain Jane brown. So brown that it wouldn’t really even show up in the picture because it blended with the dirt so well. The only remarkable thing about it was it’s long, skinny, curved black beak. It was about an inch long. The bird was the size of a small jay. And instead of flying away, it ran under the fence. I’m inland from the central California coast. Does anybody have any ideas what it might be?

Sounds like a Grackle. Presume it had a long tail as well and was strolling around as though it owned the world.

Hi and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.

I've moved your post to the ID forum, as I think you'll get the help you need there. I also subscribed you to the thread so that you can find it easily.

Meanwhile I hope you enjoy your time here with us.

If the bird had an obviously-curved bill, my first guess would be a thrasher. The California Thrasher in particular is a very plain brown bird, similar in size and proportion to a blue jay, with an obviously curved black beak, and common in coastal California.

I also thought about wrens - a rock wren for example is rather plain, with a dark curving beak, but the beak's curve is comparatively subtle.

I agree this sounds like a California Thrasher, including the habit of running rather than flying.