• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Odd Companion (1 Viewer)

O

OPTIC_NUT

Well-known member
I'm in Northeast Massachussets and this is a December context,
on a thaw day when many birds were out.

There was a wood pecker couple and a single male woodpecker
working the trees, maybe 150 ft apart. In both cases, there was
a 'shadowing' bird visiting the site after a woodpecker moved on..
a bird about robin-sized, plumper, blue-grey top and off-white belly.
I didn't see the wings clearly in flight. I'm not sure what kind of
bird it was. My nearest gues would be mourning dove doing 'cleanup'
of some kind. The interesting thing is, this bird was as close as
5 feet to the working woodpecker, watching it as it pecked.
Then it moved in when the woodpecker went on.

Is this common?
 
First, let's try to ID your companion bird. Was it clinging to the trunk much like a woodpecker can, or did it have to perch on horizontal branches? How big was it compared to the woodpeckers? (What species of woodpecker? I'm guessing Downy.)

I'm guessing it was able to go where the woodpecker went, so I'm thinking about a white-breasted nuthatch.

I've not seen them following woodpeckers, but I have seen them check freshly disturbed leaf litter and other places that might reveal an insect. They can't drill for themselves, though sometimes they pry up very loose bark.
 
The bird was bigger than the woodpecker.
It was perching on dead limbs. We have nuthatches but they are a lot smaller.
..unless the white-breasted is a lot bigger than others.
 
Well, I'm very intrigued. My next couple of guesses were a little bigger than a nuthatch, but not bigger than any woodpecker. A pigeon (about twice the size of a Downy woodpecker) could have a blue-grey back, and they're so variable that a white belly isn't impossible. But maybe we're skipping something obvious. What about a blue jay?

Do you remember anything else about this bird?

Also, if you could ID the woodpecker species it would really help with the size comparison.
To ID a woodpecker you should try to remember the amount of red on the head, and the pattern of black-and-white on the back and wings. In MA the likely species are Downy:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Downy_Woodpecker/id
(vertical white stripe down the back, little or no red on a black-and-white head),
Hairy:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hairy_Woodpecker/id
(extremely similar to Downy, larger with longer bill, less common)
Pileated:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/id
(dramatic red crest, very large bird)
yellow-bellied sapsucker:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-bellied_Sapsucker/id
(red on forehead and sometimes on throat; weakly defined black-and-white "ladder" pattern on back)
northern flicker:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/northern_flicker/id
(brownish overall)
and
Red-Bellied Woodpecker
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/id
(lots of red on back of head, strong black-and-white "ladder" pattern on back
 
The woodpecker was definitely a downy.

The other bird was plumper shaped and a little smaller than
a mourning dove, with that 2-tone car look from the side.
I kept the wings opened. I'm sure that would have solved the mystery
but it flicked in in sync with the woodpecker moving on with
just a few flaps.

It's odd....such a simple bird but I can't match it.
 
Still stumped. That flight description and posture aren't suggesting anything to me. I was going to mention tufted titmouse or a gnatcatcher, which are way too small, and northern mockingbird, which is only a bit too small, and grey catbird, which is smaller than a mockingbird.

Also look at eastern kingbird, though those usually look almost black, not blue-grey.

If it's none of those and it's not a blue jay, we have to start looking at rarities. Could it be a grey jay? Would be quite rare in Massachusetts, but not impossible. How about a fieldfare (nicely robin-sized)?
 
Well, I'll be danged. The color scheme from the side is a close match,
and the catch-as-catch-can / forward-behavior are a very close match in
behavior. Size is right. Not as loud or rude as a bluejay, but right there next
to another critter. I have seen grey jays and canada jays snatching crackers from
hikers on mountains a few hours north. They just flit right in when they can get away
with it.

I've seen many animals the guide books said weren't here.
The tree cover is much more dense than 40 years ago.
 
That's about it.
A little sleeker and bluish, but that's apparently still a grey jay:

Like this but plumped up (it was eating a lot of grubs in a thaw):

http://www.digital-images.net/Images/Yellowstone/GreyJay_1027.jpg

I know we've seen them in the White Mountains (just North) stealing crackers
since 2007. I guess it's also called Canada Jay. What we were calling a Canada Jay
is a way more colorful creature. Tough guys; they can incubate eggs at -20F.
 
Last edited:
Yep, grey jay, canada jay, arctic jay are all P. canadensis. I've never noticed a bluish cast to their feathers, but it's apparent in the photo you linked.

Apparent plumpness is usually more to do with how much it fluffs its feathers than actual weight. Same bird will look much plumper on a cold day. To match your description, I picked a photo from a foggy day when the bird was fluffed up, and the flat light helped make the belly look pale. Many of my grey jay photos are taken in winter, when the belly is obviously greyer than the snow. (I also have one where the belly looks pinkish, because the bird is perched on my hand and it's reflecting that color.) There's also significant variation in belly paleness and in the darkness of the back of the head. (The photo you linked to was probably taken in the Rockies, judging by the near-white head. edit: yep, Yellowstone)

If you were out West, your other jay might have been a Steller's (black and blue) or scrub jay (like a bluebird with a brown-grey upper back). Otherwise, maybe you were thinking of a waxwing (mostly brown with some yellow and bits of white, black, and red)?
 
Last edited:
The waxwing has about the right shape, but its head doesn't match what I saw.
The behavior is especially gray jay...curious and bold. Maybe I can wave a cracker
in the air sometime. In the mountains of Maine and Hew Hampshire they do the
stun-n-grab for crisp breads and crackers. Or chunks of meat or fruit or bacon or almost anything, I gather. Almost anything.

It's not unusual to see off-map things here. We've seen little Western coyotes and
Canadian "coyotes" that are full wolf size. We have cattle egrets that stay almost
all year, if they can find boulder-buffered shelters or roof vents.
Salamanders off-map-zone. Could be all the 'microclimates'.
 
Last edited:
Now that is a pretty cool bird. The beak and behavior don't match, though.
I'll keep my eye out for the beak. It would be fun to watch the
nut-cache visiting patterns.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 10 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

A
Landscaping ideas for birds and other wildlife? Which plants are best?
Replies
7
Views
2K
Avon Avians
A
G
  • Article
The Dracula's Castle Approach To Birding
Replies
3
Views
771
Stonefaction
Stonefaction
J
Mourning bird nest issue
Replies
7
Views
826
Bombshellbirds
B
P
Vortex Razor HD 13-39 x 56 - first impressions
Replies
8
Views
4K
Steve Babbs
Steve Babbs
Evan Atkinson
Philadelphia, 11 Days Birding, July 2022-August 2022.
2
Replies
23
Views
3K
MKinHK
MKinHK

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top