EntropyStoat
New member
Hi!
I've got feeders in an urban area of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but this year I have been getting a crazy array of birds I don't expect to see in the city. Most I have been able to ID, but today I had a small bird I can't find a matching pic of in any of my bird books, or online.
It is May 20th, and we're having an overcast and damp day in the 40s. I feed black oil sunflower and niger/thistle in a spot with a lot of brushy cover (mostly lilacs, buckthorn etc) nearby, and I have a water source.
This little bird has been exclusively on the ground at the base of the feeder, and has a posture I would describe as wren-like when feeding: head forward and tail up, with the wing tips pointing down a bit past the lower edge of the body. It's a bit bigger than a goldfinch, and more slender than the sparrows.
It is a dark gold-yellow (similar to a female goldfinch) with delicate light-brown stripes on the crown and a breast that appears to be white with brown striping. It might be the reverse, as the amounts of white and brown are near equal, and the stripes are very fine and well-defined (not streaky).
I can't find this bird anywhere! Sorry I don't have a photo. I can't get a good one through the window.
To give an idea of what else is at the feeder and hanging out in the area: goldfinch, house finch, grey catbird, rose breasted grossbeak, yellow throated vireo, nuthatch, chickadee, rufous sided towhee, at least 4 species of sparrow, cardinal, downy and hairy woodpeckers, pretty sure I had an immature red-winged blackbird... we've got a great community of birds for the city.
Thanks for any help you can give!
I've got feeders in an urban area of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but this year I have been getting a crazy array of birds I don't expect to see in the city. Most I have been able to ID, but today I had a small bird I can't find a matching pic of in any of my bird books, or online.
It is May 20th, and we're having an overcast and damp day in the 40s. I feed black oil sunflower and niger/thistle in a spot with a lot of brushy cover (mostly lilacs, buckthorn etc) nearby, and I have a water source.
This little bird has been exclusively on the ground at the base of the feeder, and has a posture I would describe as wren-like when feeding: head forward and tail up, with the wing tips pointing down a bit past the lower edge of the body. It's a bit bigger than a goldfinch, and more slender than the sparrows.
It is a dark gold-yellow (similar to a female goldfinch) with delicate light-brown stripes on the crown and a breast that appears to be white with brown striping. It might be the reverse, as the amounts of white and brown are near equal, and the stripes are very fine and well-defined (not streaky).
I can't find this bird anywhere! Sorry I don't have a photo. I can't get a good one through the window.
To give an idea of what else is at the feeder and hanging out in the area: goldfinch, house finch, grey catbird, rose breasted grossbeak, yellow throated vireo, nuthatch, chickadee, rufous sided towhee, at least 4 species of sparrow, cardinal, downy and hairy woodpeckers, pretty sure I had an immature red-winged blackbird... we've got a great community of birds for the city.
Thanks for any help you can give!