Help - bird identification

Parent Cafe
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<p>I used to have just two feeders - one sturdy one that I filled with a mix of sunflower seeds, corn and millet. The cardinals, blue jays and sparrows seem to like that. The other feeder (tube feeder as described above) was to attract finches and filled with nyger seed. I was content with that set up for years until I realized that the monkey bars really, really weren’t going to be used anymore and since they were embedded in concrete I might as well use them for more feeders. I now have 7 feeders and recently bought a hanging bird bath. </p>

<p>Two feeders that the finches love are sock feeders - [NYJER</a> THISTLE SEED SOCK-STYLE FEEDER (filled with nyjer seed).](<a href=“http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/NYJER-THISTLE-SEED-SOCK-STYLE-FEEDER-filled-with-nyjer-seed-P3063C36.aspx]NYJER”>http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/NYJER-THISTLE-SEED-SOCK-STYLE-FEEDER-filled-with-nyjer-seed-P3063C36.aspx) They love these! I get flocks of house finches and goldfinches. </p>

<p>I also have two suet feeders and have a three different kinds of woodpeckers and flickers that come for them. I’m not sure who is eating my sunflower seeds but whatever isn’t eaten drops to the ground and I now have a sunflower garden underneath the jungle gym. They’re about 3 feet high and starting to flower. </p>

<p>In addition to the above mentioned birds I also get an occasional bluebird, lots of junco’s in the fall through early Spring, mockingbirds, grackles, nuthatches and chickadee’s. Oh, and mourning doves. Those guys are pigs and will eat anything. My golden keeps the squirrels away for the most part, but they’ve been known to get to a couple of the feeders that aren’t squirrel proof.</p>

<p>I would love hummingbirds but the one summer I tried a feeder, all I got were bees. Lots of bees. </p>

<p>Still on the look out for the mystery bird. Neither of us think it’s a tanager and are leaning towards a molting cardinal.</p>

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<p>Depends what you mean by “black head.” But red bird with yellow beak is either a tanager or a cardinal. We get orioles at our sugar water feeder; and I’ve seen tanagers at sugar water feeders in Arizona. But I don’t think at a seed feeder …</p>

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<p>Tanagers don’t have black heads and they have very noticeable black wings.</p>

<p>Cardinals don’t have black heads, and their bills are more reddish than yellow.</p>

<p>Pyrrhuloxias live in the southwest desert. (And don’t have black heads.)</p>

<p>Black head? red breast? yellow bill? Sounds an awful lot like a robin to me. Maybe you saw it in light that made it look especially red, or at an angle where you couldn’t see its dusky back, so that you couldn’t tell it was a plain old American robin?</p>

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<p>As I mentioned a couple of times - picture a cardinal with a black head and (we thought) a yellow beak. Yes, I live in Pennsylvania, I certainly know a robin when I see one. Thought I knew all about cardinals too… Check out DadofB&G’s picture above in post #17, that tanager just has a bit of black on his wing tips and it does have a yellow bill. But, you’re right, no black head.</p>

<p>But the picture that milkandsugar posted - <a href=“http://icons-pe.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/t/TAP/1017.jpg[/url]”>http://icons-pe.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/t/TAP/1017.jpg&lt;/a&gt; looks like the one we saw, except ours was a little less scruffy looking.</p>

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<p>^^^yes, kathiep, that looks a lot like the guy at my feeder this week, but the head looked more solidly black.</p>

<p>pesto, I think anyone who keeps seed feeders can distinguish a robin from a cardinal–in any light. I don’t even think I have ever seen a robin at a seed feeder–they eat worms and other stuff found in my yard.</p>

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<p>Sorry answered in such a rush with the tanangers. Thought of that because I’m always on the lookout for them, a rare sighting. Oftentimes do see cardinals that I think are tanangers, but when get a better look, they are cardinals often.</p>

<p>As for visiting feeders and being in weird locations, don’t cross off a possible because of that. They show up in weird places. We get lots of “accidentals” in our area. That’s why I always have my bird book handy.</p>

<p>Don’t know anything about feeders. I have cats, so I hate to set them up for dinner. Also, the times I set out the feeders, the squirrels empty them in minutes. My, the acrobatics they go through to get at the seed.</p>

<p>I’m going to keep looking.</p>

<p>As for a robin, look at the size. </p>

<p>I very often look at a bird book and think I’ve got something, only to look at the size and see I’m way off. For instance, warblers come in tons of colors, but they are very small birds. You may see them in your book and think you’ve got one, but you don’t because your bird is twice the size of a warbler. Going to go back to your description and do some more research.</p>

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<p>Vermilion flycatcher is also listed as a similar species to the scarlet tananger.</p>

<p>Its range is casual or accidental northward along the Atlantic seaboard. </p>

<p>It’s six inches long.</p>

<p>Still researching.</p>

<p>Red whiskered bulbul. Seven inches long.</p>

<p>Black crest, red cheek patch, and red undertail coverts.</p>

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<p>I’ve looked all over, and the molting cardinal is the best candidate I can come up with. If you do a google images on molting cardinal, there are several pictures of black headed cardinals. I’m thinking that my cardinal must have just been a more handsome then usual molting cardinal and we mistook his beak for yellow. Montegut, your bird suggestions are good, but mine was dark red overall (except for that strange head) with no black wings.</p>

<p>Here’s a great site with descriptions and pictures - [Attracting</a> Birds, Birding Basics, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology](<a href=“http://www.allaboutbirds.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1138]Attracting”>Feeding Birds | All About Birds)</p>

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<p>^^^Nice link, thanks.</p>

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<p>Sorry to appear condescending with my robin suggestion. It’s just that I combed every field guide I own looking for a bird with black head, red body, and yellow bill, and the robin is the only bird that appeared to meet those criteria. I agree that robins certainly aren’t usually feeder birds.</p>

<p>The bird in the picture in your post 24 definitely looks like an exotic to me. It’s like a grosbeak but not like any of the American grosbeaks. Mini’s suggestion of a hybridized black-headed/rose-breasted grosbeak is the closest possibility for a native bird (but no yellow beak). The orchard oriole is another possibility (but again, no yellow beak).</p>

<p>Escaped birds are not uncommon. Monk parakeets have established a colony in Chicago along the lakeshore, and I’ve seen them here too in my New England town. Maybe you have some kind of exotic finch like the “orange bishop.”</p>

<p>Good luck with the ID.</p>

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<p>Lots of grosbeaks have yellow beaks.</p>

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<p>It shouldn’t be too hard for me to get a couple of pictures of the hummingbirds perching. I have one sitting on a perch not eight feet from me as I write this.</p>

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<p>Montegut, tanagers will come to fruit feeders, and generally, they prefer that the feeders be high (treetop) feeders. A pulley system for hoisting the feeder is useful if one is trying to attract these birds (and/or orioles) to one’s yard. </p>

<p>kathiep, the next time you see the mystery bird, look at the shape of the bill in addition to the color. Since the bird is coming to a seed feeder, I’m going to take a wild and crazy guess that the bill is suitably shaped for seed-eating. (Going out on a limb here, I know!) And I’m also going to guess – since I’m already way out here – that it’s shaped like a cardinal’s bill, not like a flycatcher or tanager bill. (Send the guys in the white jackets right over!)</p>

<p>mini, you might want to look into a hummingbird feeder with perches that mounts on a window. I had great luck with these and got great pictures of the hummingbirds not only on the perches, but coming in for a landing; the figure-8 pattern of the wingbeats is visible in some pictures. </p>

<p>I don’t have feeders now, as I have apparently become one of the neighborhood cat ladies… ~~~~ sigh ~~~~</p>

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<p>We have two feeders, one shaped like a box, and the other one is tube shaped. My H tends to them (he’s the birder), and fills the box with some kind of wild bird seed mix, and the tube with thistle seed. We get almost exclusively goldfinches at the thistle and every kind of bird (it seems to me) at the other. On the ground, under the box feeder we have bluejays, crows, other larger birds who can’t land on the feedr and squirrels all bickering amongst themselves. It’s very entertaining to see the personalities of the different species. Some are hogs and some are very polite.</p>

<p>We also have a birdhouse and this year had a wren family in there. Previous years, we’ve had chickadees. This one is very popular—it’s nailed to a post that holds up the veranda, so right up against the house. We put another one off into a grove of trees but no one likes it. H thinks the location is wrong or the hole is too big. We tried it in a different tree originally and had a flying squirrel move into it! But no birds. Anyone have any suggestions?</p>

<p>I will ask H about the mystery bird tonight.</p>

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<p>Mystery bird stopped over last night while we were eating dinner! Unfortunately, He only popped in, I whispered loudly to husband and he flew off! I had no chance to check out the beak, but the head was still black and he’s traveling without a girlfriend. Will keep a look out!</p>

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<p>I found this thread via Google. I’m sure I have the exact same bird, and have been trying to figure out what the heck it is.</p>

<p>I’ve got some pictures, took them today, but a warning: the quality and size is horrible. This bird would not let me get closer, so I had to hunker down in a chair and take the picture through a window as s/he ate from the feeder.</p>

<p>[Picasa</a> Web Albums - KitKat - misc](<a href=“http://picasaweb.google.com/forward123123/Misc#5365539661617396450]Picasa”>http://picasaweb.google.com/forward123123/Misc#5365539661617396450)</p>

<p>I’m certain it’s not the grosbeak or tanger (sp) mentioned here. I’ve looked in my bird book and couldn’t find anything.</p>

<p>This bird (or his brother/sister) visited about two weeks ago, but was more scraggly looking. In fact, it was so scruffy I feared he was sick or hurt. I also thought it could be a fledgling of some kind. If so, biggest fledgling I’ve ever seen!</p>

<p>Anyway, the bird returned today, and I can give you the following details (much like what the original poster said):</p>

<p>–very long red tail feathers
–yellow/gold beak, very bright color
–black smooth - almost oily - head - absolutely no cardinal pointy hat
–it’s kind of a big bird, I think bigger than a cardinal
–didn’t fuss with the little finch that was also feeding</p>

<p>This feeder is safflower seeds only (to feed the birds I like and not the black birds)</p>

<p>I do get cardinals and have enjoyed their social behaviors. (I especially love when dad feeds the young ones and they all look like they are kissing.) Like the OP, at first glance I thought it was a deformed cardinal. But the head isn’t right.</p>

<p>Seriously, it looks like somebody stuck a tiny vulture head on this bird. Long neck, and the side view looks like a little vulture or something. It’s most bizarre.</p>

<p>I am so puzzled by this bird!</p>

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<p>p.s. I live in the burbs of St. Louis, lots of trees. I have pines, maple and sycamores, as well as lots of shrubs and flowers.</p>

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<p>Well, that was quick. I googled cardinal with vulture head and came up with a lot of great pictures, although I still haven’t seen one with that bright gold beak.</p>

<p>It seems this must be a bald Northern cardinal. And looks like the “experts” are not in agreement. Some say it’s a normal or abnormal molting and for some reason the cardinal loses all his head feathers. Others say it’s due to parasites and this causes the bald head.</p>

<p>Still does not explain why this bird was so big or that beak. But I do think it’s got to be a baldie. When I saw the other one (or the same guy two weeks ago and now he’s better) he WAS scruffy. Poor thing probably had lice.</p>

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<p>it appears the mystery has been solved? it make sense that it wouldn’t have a pointy cardinal type head, if there aren’t any feathers.</p>