What is this bird please? Central Minnesota - May 2013 (1 Viewer)

M

mjbaker

New member

• May 29, 2013

• #1

Hi everyone. My first post here. Looks like the PERFECT birding forum. Thanks for helping me out.

Sorry for the poor photos...

It was nearly dark so I used a very high ISO. (Two photos included.)

I've looked and looked online but can't be sure. Could this be a blue grosbeak?





Thanks so much for your help.

Mike

 

Jan-Paul Charteris

Sussex birder and budding moth enthusiast

• May 29, 2013

• #2

Blue Grosbeak looks right to me. Welcome to the forum :t:

 

KenM

Well-known member

• May 29, 2013

• #3

It's an Indigo Bunting.

cheers

 

dacol

Well-known member

• May 29, 2013

• #4

Second opinion for Indigo Bunting.

 

chris butterworth

aka The Person Named Above

• May 29, 2013

• #5

Welcome to Birforum. Yes, Blue Grosbeak. The darker 'face' and two coloured bill, amongst other things, distinguish it from the similar Indigo Bunting.

Chris

 

KenM

Well-known member

• May 29, 2013

• #6

chris butterworth said:

Welcome to Birforum. Yes, Blue Grosbeak. The darker 'face' and two coloured bill, amongst other things, distinguish it from the similar Indigo Bunting.

Chris

Click to expand...

I believe the bill...is too small for BG, Chris.

cheers

 

KC Foggin

Very, very long time member

Supporter

• May 29, 2013

• #7

Indigo Bunting for me as well.

 

Andrew Whitehouse

Professor of Listening

Supporter

• May 29, 2013

• #8

It's an Indigo Bunting.

 

nartreb

Speak softly and carry a long lens

• May 29, 2013

• #9

Blue grosbeak would be unusual in Minnesota, wouldn't it?

Anyway, I don't see any wing bars. Indigo bunting for me.

 

chris butterworth

aka The Person Named Above

• May 29, 2013

• #10

KenM said:

I believe the bill...is too small for BG, Chris.

cheers

Click to expand...

Right - again, Ken. It's an Indigo Bunting. My only excuse is its 0330 here - and I was having a senior moment - and ....... G'night.

Chris

 

BeesWing

Well-known member

• May 29, 2013

• #11

I think the seam in the wood of the deck is making the bill look much bigger than it is, hence the grosbeak mistake (i thought it was a grosbeak looking at the thumbnail).

 

njlarsen

Gallery Moderator

Opus Editor

Supporter

• May 29, 2013

• #12

Mike, welcome to birdforum. In case you haven't realized this, the reason it is not looking quite right yet is that it is in active moult, changing into summer plumage.

Niels

 

KenM

Well-known member

• May 29, 2013

• #13

chris butterworth said:

My only excuse is its 0330 here - and I was having a senior moment - and ....... G'night.

Chris

Click to expand...

Is that something I can look forward to then Chris....o

 

Larry Lade

Moderator

• May 29, 2013

• #14

Yes, it is an Indigo Bunting.

 

M

mjbaker

New member

• May 29, 2013

• #15

Thanks everyone....

We did have a few indigo buntings at the feeders but they were all blue and didn't see them often. I thought they were passing through.

When this one had the brown wings I couldn't figure it out. The reason I asked here was because this morning I got my weekly email from the The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union and I looked at their recent sightings page.

They had this shot of a recently seen blue grosbeak on this page:
http://moumn.org/cgi-bin/recent.pl

So I didn't know what to think, but would have liked it to be a blue grosbeak. -grin-

Thanks everyone for making me smarter about identifying birds. Especially this one.

Mike

P.S. The shot below is the blue grosbeak from the Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union site.

 

Larry Lade

Moderator

• May 29, 2013

• #16

Notice the huge bill and brown wing-bars on the above bird (Blue Grosbeak).