Hi there. This is my first posts, but I had to join because I was mesmerized by a bird that visited my backyard yesterday. I could not get a photo as my camera's zoom was not strong enough, but I got a clear view of it in my binoculars and will describe it as best I can. First, I'm in New Jersey, about a mile from the Delaware River. I did not see the bird fly, it was merely walking around the backyard eating bits out of the grass. I estimate it to be 8 to 10 inches from tip of bill to end of tail. The bill was yellow and about the length and shape of a red-bellied woodpecker's bill and indeed its body shape also fit into that category, but its coloring was unlike anything I'd seen before. It was nearly all white. The reason I saw it so easily was because the white stood out so clearly against the green grass. But it's lower back and tail had fawn colored spots about the size of a quarter. It's breast had patches of a sort of dusky rose color. Not spots, but patches. It was the most unusual bird! Could it have been a young woodpecker or some sort of cross-breed? What about that bright yellow bill? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
