Mystery Curlew and stray Cassin's Finch?? (2 Viewers)

[Leucistic Magpie]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum, but I'm happy I discovered it. I have questions about two birds:

Bird #1:

What: Some sort of curlew
Where:
a. Location: Crown land, about 150 metres away from the Red Deer River in the Alberta (Canada) foothills, SW of Sundre
b. Habitat: Mostly coniferous forest along a fast-flowing river, with large, grassy and brushy open areas between the trees. Also lots of puddles from recent rain, particularly in deep tire ruts along dirt roads.
When: July 5/6, 2024 (evening)
How: Seemed to be foraging in puddles left in the abovementioned tire ruts. When I got too close, it went and hid in the long grass/brush nearby.

I've never seen a curlew before (at least not since I started birding) and never gotten close to one, so I can't tell if it was relatively big or small. I would say it was about the size of an American Avocet (with shorter legs and a shorter bill), which looks to be typical curlew size.

Bird #2:

What: Female finch, probably either Cassin's or House
Where:
a. Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada river valley (uppermost part of the valley).
b. Habitat: Forested river valley on one side, sports fields and scattered deciduous trees on the other. In the midst of a city, but in a place where wildlife sightings are common.
When: February 21, 2024 (afternoon)
How: Sitting near the top of a leafless deciduous tree and occasionally moving from branch to branch. I don't recall anything about its chirps to make any useful observations. There was a flock of House Finches nearby, but this bird was alone.
Why: The main reason I am wondering if this is a Cassin's Finch is that other birders in the area were talking about a Cassin's Finch, as I was out for a walk. I went to the location they described and I believe this is the bird they were talking about, because it didn't look like the female House Finches I've seen.

I have more photos of this one, though the angles are pretty similar.

 

[Valéry Schollaert]

You've got there a snipe with a broken beak IMO.

 

[rkj]

Welcome to the forum. A snipe with a deformed beak is my best guess as well for the first bird - certainly it is not a curlew. Unfortunately the photos of the second bird do not show the head pattern or beak well, which are the best ways to distinguish between Cassin's and House Finches. The crisp dark streaking makes me think Cassin's, but the un-notched tail and slender profile make me think House.

 

[Leucistic Magpie]

Thank you both! Well that explains why I had such difficulty identifying it. I did notice that the plumage was a lot closer to that of a snipe, but I'd never seen a snipe either and the beak really threw me for a loop!

A shame that the finch isn't positively identifiable. It was unfortunately almost impossible to get a better photo of the head with the equipment I had, because of how high up the bird was and the way the branches lined up. Given that it was so far out of range, I guess the safe guess is that it's just a House Finch.

 

[Indobirder]

I think you found the right finch.
Compare this photo from what I assume is the same park you were at:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S162493397

 

[Leucistic Magpie]

Yes! I'm almost positive that's the same bird. So based on that much clearer photo, does it look like it was correctly identified as a Cassin's Finch? And if so, what are the tell-tale signs?

 

[Andy Adcock]

You've got there a snipe with a broken beak IMO.

Presumably Wilson's Snipe rather than Common?

 

[Indobirder]

Yes! I'm almost positive that's the same bird. So based on that much clearer photo, does it look like it was correctly identified as a Cassin's Finch? And if so, what are the tell-tale signs?

Crisp streaking against light base color rather than brown on brownish and more smudgey; head shape often showing a crest; but I like to see the bill most: house finch has a curved culmen, cassin's is straight.

The other corroberating evidence is that it's a rare bird and the eBird reviewer has accepted the sighting.

 

[Leucistic Magpie]

Presumably Wilson's Snipe rather than Common?

That would be my assumption as well, given the location.

 

[Leucistic Magpie]

Crisp streaking against light base color rather than brown on brownish and more smudgey; head shape often showing a crest; but I like to see the bill most: house finch has a curved culmen, cassin's is straight.

The other corroberating evidence is that it's a rare bird and the eBird reviewer has accepted the sighting.

Well that's exciting! I'm glad I decided to check it out--and that I took some pictures. It's not every day I get to see a bird out of its typical range. I didn't realize that eBird had a verification process, so that's good to know!

Thank you, everyone, for helping me out. That's two new birds I get to check off my checklist!

 

[Valéry Schollaert]

sure

That would be my assumption as well, given the location.

 

[MacNara]

You've got there a snipe with a broken beak IMO.

Given that the 'bent' bit of the bill in photo 2 seems to be the part of the bill which is flexible in Snipe species (it looks much less 'bent' in photo 3, and isn't visible in photo 1), I wonder if this might just be a natural flex after feeding (the colour suggests that the bill is still covered in mud, so it's not entirely clear what is bill and what is just residual mud)?

See this thread, for example.

 

[Leucistic Magpie]

An interesting theory, and I had no idea that snipe's bills were flexible like that, but this bird's bill was consistently bent. I had difficulty getting a good side profile, so the apparent lack of a bend in photo 3 is just a result of the angle, and in photo 1, it's because the snipe had its bill tucked away. I saw the bird on two separate occasions and both times, it had a curved bill, just like a curlew.