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Help with ID needed (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Dingoblu
- Start date
I cannot really see this being a shiny cowbird, look for example at this image: http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/37559/sort/1/cat/all/page/1
Brewer's or another member of the family is probably the best option, but if Brewer's it would be an age that I have not seen.
HTH
Niels
Brewer's or another member of the family is probably the best option, but if Brewer's it would be an age that I have not seen.
HTH
Niels
Katy Penland
Well-known member
Looks like the Brewer's fledges we have in the yard right now: pale eye, pale throat and upper chest, drab brown overall with a bit of blackish just starting to come in, with a still "fluffy" look to their plumage. I.e., just like the bird here! :t: I noticed in our fledges as well as in the photo, the beak seems to look heavier than it will as an adult. Whether this is actually the case or just some kind of optical illusion, I don't know.
EDIT: Just realized you're from northern NY. Don't know if Brewer's are as common there as Rusty Blackbird, but in all honesty, your bird doesn't look like a Rusty juvie to me.
EDIT: Just realized you're from northern NY. Don't know if Brewer's are as common there as Rusty Blackbird, but in all honesty, your bird doesn't look like a Rusty juvie to me.
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prairiemerlin
registered guy
Your bird appears to be a female Brown-headed Cowbird. Brewer's Blackbird does not live around NY, and its the wrong season for Rusty Blackbird. And you're NEVER going to see a Shiny Cowbird in NY either.
JANJ
Well-known member
Brown Creeper is right, it´s a BH Cowbird. Brewer´s BB has a much thinner bill (the Americans should know). And the possibility to see a Shiny Cowbird in NY is quite remote. There is resident population in S Florida, and there are records for Maine, N Carolina, Virginia, New Brunwick to mentioned a few. SCB is also kept as cagebird.
JanJ
JanJ
Katy Penland
Well-known member
Sorry, Jan, but even some of us Americans can be wrong on occasion, particularly IDing from photos. This being a BHCO would certainly explain the thicker bill. I've gotta quit trying to ID from pictures, I so seldom get it right.JANJ said:
Katy Penland
Well-known member
Ya know what, I'm gonna stick with Brewer's Blackbird. Since when do any ages of Brown-headed Cowbirds have yellow eyes? Plus -- and this is what really bothers me about this for being BHCO -- the whole head shape and lack of forehead isn't right for BHCO.
Brewer's Blackbird is on the Checklist for Birds of NY State even if it is a review species (meaning, it's uncommon enough to require documentation of having seen it), so BRBL isn't outside the realm of possibility here.
Brewer's Blackbird is on the Checklist for Birds of NY State even if it is a review species (meaning, it's uncommon enough to require documentation of having seen it), so BRBL isn't outside the realm of possibility here.
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Katy - I don't see yellow eyes in the attached photo...which is why I was having trouble with Brewer's (but I wasn't sure if female Brewer's would have yellow eyes or were in the Eastern US so if they don't have yellow eyes and are found in the locale, I thought that was a possibility for the ID). Barbara
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The thick bill says Cowbird to me, no way that is a blackbird bill.
When you look very closely, there is no color to the eye, rather there is black with a white dot, likely reflecting light, which our eyes interpret as a lighter color to the eye.
The other thing to keep in mind is this a juvie, so we would need breeding parents nearby, which likely effectively rules out NY rarities.
In addition, it looks to me like there are fine dark streaks on the breast, and the overall coloration is pretty similar to juvie BHCs we get here.
Juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird for me.
When you look very closely, there is no color to the eye, rather there is black with a white dot, likely reflecting light, which our eyes interpret as a lighter color to the eye.
The other thing to keep in mind is this a juvie, so we would need breeding parents nearby, which likely effectively rules out NY rarities.
In addition, it looks to me like there are fine dark streaks on the breast, and the overall coloration is pretty similar to juvie BHCs we get here.
Juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird for me.
JANJ
Well-known member
Hi Katy!
A little friendly irony, thought you would see the obvious difference between a BH Cowbird and a B Blackbird bill. I dont think you shall quit ID from pic (what would become of us then), and to ID from pic is often very difficult, and especially if you only know a certain bird from pic. We all are wrong sometimes, as I´m sure you know, and that´s the idea of it all, progress! Thayeri gave the explanation.
Regards JanJ
A little friendly irony, thought you would see the obvious difference between a BH Cowbird and a B Blackbird bill. I dont think you shall quit ID from pic (what would become of us then), and to ID from pic is often very difficult, and especially if you only know a certain bird from pic. We all are wrong sometimes, as I´m sure you know, and that´s the idea of it all, progress! Thayeri gave the explanation.
Regards JanJ
Katy Penland
Well-known member
LOL, Jan, considering my track record on BirdForum alone in trying to help ID birds from photos, I have to concede this probably isn't a BRBL. :bounce:
Thayeri raised a good point, which totally eluded me: A juvie BRBL would have to have had breeding parents there, and since this is a review species for NY, whille not impossible, is unlikely.
What so struck me about Dinboglu's photo was that it could have been taken in my own back yard, and the juvenile being fed here by the adult male BRBL has yellow eyes, hence my assumption that the light eye I see on this bird I simply interpreted to be yellow, not a reflection which, again, it very likely is.
Going back outside now to look at more birds.
Thayeri raised a good point, which totally eluded me: A juvie BRBL would have to have had breeding parents there, and since this is a review species for NY, whille not impossible, is unlikely.
What so struck me about Dinboglu's photo was that it could have been taken in my own back yard, and the juvenile being fed here by the adult male BRBL has yellow eyes, hence my assumption that the light eye I see on this bird I simply interpreted to be yellow, not a reflection which, again, it very likely is.
Going back outside now to look at more birds.
screaming piha
Well-known member
Isn't the apparent pale eye flash reflecting off the retina? (Steel eye in birds = red eye in people.) The pale area is in the middle of the eye, suggesting it is reflection through the pupil, not a pale surround of the iris.
Dingoblu
Well-known member
Yes the bird has black eyes, the light spot is a reflection of the flash.
I think its courting season for the common grackles. I've been watching the males bringing the females seeds and bits of worm. The females flies around loudly calling and the males come running..LOL
I think its courting season for the common grackles. I've been watching the males bringing the females seeds and bits of worm. The females flies around loudly calling and the males come running..LOL
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