3 replies to this topic

[Lisa Western Mass.]

I live in on a lake in Western Massachusetts. Today I saw a bird in my yard that resembled a rose-breasted grosbeak, but it had some red on its head as well as on its chest. Its wings were black and white, barred, and it was between the size of a black-capped chickadee and a tufted titmouse. Any ideas? It's driving me nuts! (I saw it on the ground by my birdfeeders, presumably feeding.)

[David Lukas]

It's not entirely clear in what ways your bird resembled a Rose-breasted Grosbeak so we're not sure whether your bird is a thick billed seed-eating bird or one of the many other songbird types. Red is a fairly unusual color but given the small size of your bird we will start this discussion by suggesting your bird might have been a Blackburnian Warbler. If you click on this link, you'll notice that this warbler usually has a yellow-orange head but the orange can also be so "fiery" that it leans towards red (http://www.learner.o...ikeMcDowell.jpg). Look these over and let us know how these images compare to the bird you saw.

David Lukas and Simone Whitecloud

[Lisa Western Mass.]

It's the "rose-breasted" part that has me confused-- what I saw has adistinct red splotch on its breast and a red crown. Ithought maybe it was a Yellow-bellied sapsucker, but the chest patch was so pronounced. I'm flummoxed!

(Thanks for the Blackburnian warbler tip, but that's not it.)

[Simone Whitecloud]

Oh, sapsucker puts us into an entirely different category. This is a much larger bird and you probably would have noticed that it was clinging to tree trunks. Is this true? You haven't said much about the bird's shape and behavior other than describing a couple conspicuous colors, and this might help us narrow down our choices.

David and Simone