Bird identification - Ask Extension
Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture. The bird was under my birdfeeder. I feed black oil sunflower seed. It was almost Robin size. It was a beautif...
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Bird identification #817645
Asked December 19, 2022, 10:37 AM EST
Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture. The bird was under my birdfeeder. I feed black oil sunflower seed. It was almost Robin size. It was a beautiful, brown and gold with a streaked chest. The top of the head was brown, then a stripe of cream than dark brown again. What really set it apart was the flaring of the tail.
I hope you can help me. Thank you so much.
Beth Hoppe
Have a merry Christmas!!
Calhoun County Michigan
Expert Response
Hello,
This is a bit difficult given the limited information you provided and I'm not sure i could provide an estimate of the species with this info.
Can you provide any additional information?
1) Where generally did you see this bird (city/county)
2) Where was the gold on the bird?
3) Did it feed on the ground or on the feeder most often?
4) Can you describe more what you mean by flaring of the tail? Was it bobbing up and down or swinging side to side? Or was it just expanded outward when it went to land? Or did it flair outward when already landed?
5) When you are not able to get a picture, it is often helpful to provide a handwritten illustration. This would help if you can recall the bird enough to make a rough illustration pointing out the patterns and colors you saw
6) Was the bill short and thick, or longer and thin?
Although I can't tell from your description, there are few expected birds int he winter months with Yellow/Gold on them. Some preliminary species to consider are:
1) American Goldfinch (common in MI year round)
2) Pine Siskin (limited yellow, but a regular visitor to winter feeders in Michigan)
2) Evening Grosbeak (fairly rare in most of Michigan, but sporadic throughout the state in Winter).
3) Horned Lark (regular in lower peninsula near agriculture in winter, not a common feeder bird but will rarely show up at them)
4) Northern Flickr (common in summer, most leave in winter but a few will stick around, a type of woodpecker).
5) White-throated sparrow (very limited yellow, uncommon winter feeder bird).
6) Yellow-rummped warbler (common in summer, rare in winter as most leave but in lower peninsula can find them rarely feeding on feeder suet).
Hope that gets you started and if you can provide more information as requested I may be able to narrow it down a bit more for you.
This is a bit difficult given the limited information you provided and I'm not sure i could provide an estimate of the species with this info.
Can you provide any additional information?
1) Where generally did you see this bird (city/county)
2) Where was the gold on the bird?
3) Did it feed on the ground or on the feeder most often?
4) Can you describe more what you mean by flaring of the tail? Was it bobbing up and down or swinging side to side? Or was it just expanded outward when it went to land? Or did it flair outward when already landed?
5) When you are not able to get a picture, it is often helpful to provide a handwritten illustration. This would help if you can recall the bird enough to make a rough illustration pointing out the patterns and colors you saw
6) Was the bill short and thick, or longer and thin?
Although I can't tell from your description, there are few expected birds int he winter months with Yellow/Gold on them. Some preliminary species to consider are:
1) American Goldfinch (common in MI year round)
2) Pine Siskin (limited yellow, but a regular visitor to winter feeders in Michigan)
2) Evening Grosbeak (fairly rare in most of Michigan, but sporadic throughout the state in Winter).
3) Horned Lark (regular in lower peninsula near agriculture in winter, not a common feeder bird but will rarely show up at them)
4) Northern Flickr (common in summer, most leave in winter but a few will stick around, a type of woodpecker).
5) White-throated sparrow (very limited yellow, uncommon winter feeder bird).
6) Yellow-rummped warbler (common in summer, rare in winter as most leave but in lower peninsula can find them rarely feeding on feeder suet).
Hope that gets you started and if you can provide more information as requested I may be able to narrow it down a bit more for you.
