ID request: USA, Ventura County, CA: 2012 Jul 16 (1 Viewer)

ChildOfThe50s · Jul 17, 2012

I have lived in Ventura County 35 years and have never seen a green bird like this. Comparing to a robin: similar shape and about the same size but slenderer, bottom side plain dull green like some parrots (BUT IT WAS NOT A PARROT OR PARAKEET), longer tail which was slender and split. Upper wings and tail grey to dark grey. Flitting around some iceplant next to a parking lot in Camarillo at dusk. Flicked tail up and down a lot. It perched on the iceplant and a nearby chain-link fence.

I tried various online bird id sites but none came close. I would appreciate any help. Thank you.

KenM · Jul 18, 2012

ChildOfThe50s said:
I have lived in Ventura County 35 years and have never seen a green bird like this. Comparing to a robin: similar shape and about the same size but slenderer, bottom side plain dull green like some parrots (BUT IT WAS NOT A PARROT OR PARAKEET), longer tail which was slender and split. Upper wings and tail grey to dark grey. Flitting around some iceplant next to a parking lot in Camarillo at dusk. Flicked tail up and down a lot. It perched on the iceplant and a nearby chain-link fence.

I tried various online bird id sites but none came close. I would appreciate any help. Thank you.

The only birds that I can find that have green and grey cosmetics are..female Western/Summer Tanagers and the ''unmentionable'' 1st year female Crimson-collared Grosbeak! However I suspect that the behaviour you described, wouldn't suit any of these extreme possibilities.

Best of luck from another child of the '50's.

emupilot · Jul 18, 2012

Could the green have been an artifact of the lighting conditions? Depending on the angle, the belly could have been lit only by reflection of the low angle sunlight off the ice plant. Then it could be something like a Northern Mockingbird.

ChildOfThe50s · Jul 18, 2012

emupilot said:
Could the green have been an artifact of the lighting conditions? Depending on the angle, the belly could have been lit only by reflection of the low angle sunlight off the ice plant. Then it could be something like a Northern Mockingbird.

Wow! I have been thinking both of those thoughts. It's true that when the bird was perched on other things besides the iceplant, I couldn't see it's underside. However, when I could see the green, it was very uniform, even in flight. Also, the sun was not shining because I would have been looking directly at it. Thanks for the ideas.

njlarsen · Jul 18, 2012

http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Green-tailed_Towhee? I realize it is not quite as green as described, but take a look

It is sometimes necessary to say "this one got away"; I had one of those, 10 years later when I happened to see it again I could go back and erase any uncertainty about the first time I had seen it.

Niels

ChildOfThe50s · Jul 18, 2012

njlarsen said:
http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Green-tailed_Towhee? I realize it is not quite as green as described, but take a look

It is sometimes necessary to say "this one got away"; I had one of those, 10 years later when I happened to see it again I could go back and erase any uncertainty about the first time I had seen it.

Niels

Thanks, Niels. I park there every day. Maybe the bird will show again.

ChildOfThe50s · Jul 21, 2012

The bird came back

ChildOfThe50s said:
I have lived in Ventura County 35 years and have never seen a green bird like this. Comparing to a robin: similar shape and about the same size but slenderer, bottom side plain dull green like some parrots (BUT IT WAS NOT A PARROT OR PARAKEET), longer tail which was slender and split. Upper wings and tail grey to dark grey. Flitting around some iceplant next to a parking lot in Camarillo at dusk. Flicked tail up and down a lot. It perched on the iceplant and a nearby chain-link fence.

I tried various online bird id sites but none came close. I would appreciate any help. Thank you.

Actually a pair of them. Dull green color everywhere except wings and tail which were dark grey. Tail thin about 1 inch wide 3 inches long and last third is split. They were foraging on the ground and catching small white moths living in the iceplant. I couldn't id wing shape since they were in flight only briefly.

The highlight was when they were joined by what appeared to be a hooded oriole (bright yellow and black) to make a colorful trio. The oriole is known to inhabit this area.

tconzemi · Jul 21, 2012

So what about a juvenile Hooded oriole?
Or a female http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Image:Hooded_oriole_fem.jpg

ChildOfThe50s · Jul 23, 2012

tconzemi said:
So what about a juvenile Hooded oriole?
Or a female http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Image:Hooded_oriole_fem.jpg

Or a juvenile female? There are similarities but the bird in question had a dark grey tail and there was no yellow in the green. Maybe another type of oriole. Thanks for your reply.

ID request: USA, Ventura County, CA: 2012 Jul 16 (1 Viewer)

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