Whatbird.com

ok thank you

My 5 year old daughter keeps telling me that she keeps seeing a bright blue bird with a very yellow beak and a black stripe on its wing at our feeder.  She well knows Indigo Buntings, as they are frequent visitors here; however, she insists that it is not an Indigo Bunting.  I kidded her for days about her "imaginary" bird that we could not find in our bird book, but after reading all the posts in this discussion, I'm now obsessed with spotting this elusive bird myself!  When she saw the photo of the Yellow-billed Blue-Finch someone posted earlier in this forum, she yelled, "THAT'S IT!  THAT'S IT!"  (Although I noted that it does not have the black stripe on the wing that she had described.)  We are in Columbia, Missouri.  P.S.  I appreciated your posts.

I found this site while doing a search for this bird.  The beak on my blue bird is bright yellow...I have the feeder on my deck and am waiting for the little guy to come back so I can take a picture of it.  The blue is like a cobalt blue...has black on his wings...I have seen two of them.  I am located in New Durham, NH...

I don't think it is the indigo bunting..due to the beak...and it isn't "plump" enough for the bunting...

As soon as I get the picture I will do my best to upload it ...

 

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Dolores

I can say 99.99% possitive that your birds are indigo buntings, there is really no other possibility. Yellow-billed Blue-finches are only found in Brazil, and for 10s of 20s of people seeing one is basically impossible. I will be happy  to take a look at your photos and I will give my honest opinion.

 

 

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featherbrain

Try out my photo quiz!

Life is simple: Eat, Sleep, and BIRD!

"Walk softly and carry a big scope!"

I do understand the odds against this being a Yellow-billed Blue Finch; however, I'm still skeptical about the Indigo Bunting theory, as those have been regular visitors at our feeder for the past several months and, no matter what time of day they appear (and they appear morning and evening), they look the same: royal blue in bright light and dark blue in dull light, unremarkable dull-colored bill and they are fairly brave--hang around quite awhile for liesurely viewing by the entire family.  According to my daughter, this is mystery bird is a much brighter blue, has a black stripe on its wing and a bright yellow beak---she couldn't be clear on the size in her description, but only said it's pretty small---and it only stays for about 10 or 20 seconds.  She said it only appears "after dinner."  Anyway, it has been fun to read everyone's posts.  Thanks!

This is humerous.  Every time I find myself believing that my little blue bird must be an Indigo Bunting like I've been advised, someone makes me question it again.  By the way, my little bird is gone.  He was extreemly shy, I saw him in the morn and again at night when he was here.  He was  a nervous bird, flying at the smallest sound or movement.  However, it has been about two weeks since I have seen him.  I'm not sure if he moved somewhere else, or if the ever tiresome Blue Jays have scared him off.  This has been very entertaining at the least and I thank all the people who have tried to help in the quest.

I, too, have enjoyed this discussion and like to imagine that there actually is a "real" yellow-billed, bright blue mystery bird that's not an Indigo Bunting.  I have not seen this shy, elusive bright blue bird with the yellow bill that my daughter insists she has seen and she has not mentioned seeing it again in at least two or three days.  Maybe ours met up with yours and all the others, and flew off to the great yellow-billed blue bird neverland, as no one as come up with a photo, yet!  (I'll keep checking back in hopes that someone is quick enough to snap a clear picture.)

Everything I'm seeing sounds 100% perfect for Indigo Bunting, I don't know why you guys think it isn't. There is no other bird in North America that fits the description, even your behavior description sounds perfect. As for the yellow bill, everybody sees colors differently, and it varies from bird to bird. I happen to see a grayish bill with a slight yellowish tint, but maybe your individual and your eyes sees a bright yellow bill (the bird you have could very well have a yellow bill, and the lighting/background could add to the effect). As for them leaving, they are probably starting to quiet down and may not visit feeders as often now that they don't have nestlings. They are probably still in the area (I live in Georgia and last year I had them into September), just not showing themselves.

A photo would help a million (although from your description, it defenitely sounds like an Indigo Bunting).

 

 

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featherbrain

Try out my photo quiz!

Life is simple: Eat, Sleep, and BIRD!

"Walk softly and carry a big scope!"

Today my daughter was standing by our deck door when she suddenly pointed and yelled, "There is it again---the blue bird with the yellow bill!"  I RUSHED over and there it WAS!  . . . an Indigo Bunting.  I said, "That's not a YELLOW beak."  She insisted it was.  It looked half "whitish" and half "darkish" to me---maybe I could stretch my imagination and see a yellowish tint.  But it was certainly a bunting---brighter blue than any I had seen (and I've seen a lot of them) and a clear black stripe on the wing, whereas the others had not had such a distinctive stripe.  And it was way more nervous than the others--only stayed long enough to grab some seed and then vanished, not to return.  I had to report back as to what my daughter saw to keep it honest here.  Thanks everyone!

Hi, I did manage to get a couple of pictures of the bird I've been seeing.  The problem is I don't know what I'm doing.  I uploaded one of the pics onto my photo album (twice by accident), and seem to have lost the other one.  Will get it on ASAP.  If you can get to my pictures on this site (dalangs pictures) then do you think it is an Indigo Bunting?  If you can't see it then do you have any suggestions on how to get it here?  Oh by the way, they are not that great, I took them from aa large distance away and through a double glass window (very dirty). Thanks

Definitely an indigo bunting -- notice that the beak is in fact grayish, not yellow at all.

Found the other one!  He's a beauty, although the picture is terrible.

still, if you take any photo editing program, use the eyedropper tool, and you will see...although the sky contains shades of yellow, and the leaves do too-the beak contains no colors except blues, reds, and greys....yes it is an indigo bunting..sorry

Beautiful bird in your photo! The one my daughter spotted was the same brilliant blue color (most we have are not so bright).  But I do have to agree that it's an Indigo Bunting.  Thanks for the great photo!

Thank you for the info.  It is nice to know for sure what they are.  I'm having sooo much fun with this.  I have some awesome pictures of baby birds that I will put in my gallery.  I think they may be the Indigo Bunting's babies, or perhaps Blue Jay????  Can any of you go there to see them?  Still not sure how this works.  Thanks again