LIFE'S BETTER IN THE MOUNTAINS

Monday, October 6, 2008

Name That Bird

Not being an expert birder, I have never done a bird identification post. I photographed a bird that is immediately identifiable when viewed from the front. From the back, however, it is a bit more difficult.

This may be too easy and there is no prize. I did not deliberately obscure the features of the head. The sun was shining directly on the bird. The head and beak are not white. The head color is somewhat distorted by the sun.

HINT: (Added 11:40 EDT) The bird is about the same size as a Wood Thrush.





I will post a more revealing photograph of this bird tomorrow.

14 comments:

Twisted Fencepost said...

I haven't the slightest idea. I am looking forward to the answer and more pictures tomorrow!

Cheryl said...

How wonderful a mystery bird.....look forward to seeing more in your next post......

dguzman said...

Uh... is that some weirdo starling?

Anonymous said...

I have consulted my Peterson's guide to no avail. How big is he/she?

Dog_geek said...

Well, if there's no prize, then I'm not playing! (Also, because I have no idea!) :o)

Julie Zickefoose said...

The Science Chimp knows, but will wait in the wings on her unicycle until someone waves a banana. Eee! Eee! Eee!
Y'all go!
What a wonderful quiz bird!

Jayne said...

I'm going to guess a juvenile female Rose-breasted Grosbeak???

Jayne said...

On second thought, how about a juvenile male towhee??

Tina said...

I agree with Jayne, I think it is a young rose-breasted Grosbeak, I have only had the pleasure of seeing one in my backyard and that was this past Spring and only for a day! Anxious to hear the answer! :)

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Good Grief!!
I'm stumped.

LauraHinNJ said...

That beak and spotty wings say rosy grosbeak to me too.

Mary said...

I love quizzes but I'm never correct! Let's see what tomorrow brings. I don't have a clue but the Science Chimp is holding an ace, I'll bet.

NCmountainwoman said...

Thanks for the guesses, and especially for commenting when you haven't a guess. Jayne is kinda, sorta, almost right until she second guesses her answer. I apologize for saying this might be too easy...I was thinking that because I recently posted about a juvenile grosbeak.

Nice work, everyone!

Kathi said...

Ah, man! I came too late to the party, and saw the answer post before the question.

This means that now I can say: "How easy! I'm surprised more people didn't get the answer. I knew it right away," when in truth, I was clueless.

Great quiz, even if I missed the fun. That is a good idea, photos of birds that are not in the typical field guide pose.

~Kathi