Female Western Tanager?

I have a Mystery Bird! During my trip to Mt. Auburn Cemetery on Sunday I got just a few pictures of what looked like a finch with a pale yellow body. Another distinct characteristic is the white wing bars.

Any thoughts? I can't find any pictures of female tanagers with pale enough bodies. I also considered it might be a female oriole?

I've spent long enough poring through my field guides and doing image searches online. I give up- I'm ready for someone to set me straight!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: I've received two tips that this is likely a female or juvenile Great-crested Flycatcher. Initially I didn't think it was a good fit since the bird seemed larger overall (including the head) and was more sparrow-shaped, but after doing some image searches I think it is in fact a Great-crested Flycatcher.

Comments

Christopher said…

I think what you have there is a female or immature Great-crested Flycatcher. Hard to tell anything about the head with it turned that way, but the white smudgy bars on the wings with the tinge of reddish in the primaries (and maybe a hint on the tail too in the second photo?) as well as the yellow underneath, and dark neck, all speak to a myiarchus flycather to me, and the most common one would be Great-crested. (Although we can't really rule out Ash-throated...)

July 2, 2008 at 8:02:00 AM PDT

Cathleen Voss said…

Thanks for the tip Christopher. I actually got the same suggestion from another birder, so you're probably on to something. Thanks for stopping by!

July 22, 2008 at 6:59:00 AM PDT

Well, Here We Are — Back to Birding Girl After 11 Years

Well, here we are—after an epic 11-year hiatus, I’m sitting back at my Adirondack chair, overlooking the picturesque cranberry bogs we live on now. I've swapped my super strong coffee for a hoppy, locally-brewed IPA to celebrate the end of the work day, and starting work again on my personal project- BirdingGirl. Honestly, it feels a little surreal. If you’re popping in and thinking, “Wait, she’s posting again?”—yep, it’s me! The binoculars are still close by, the dog is snoozing nearby, and yes, the birds have kept me company all along. Life Lately: Birding (Mostly) at Home Let’s get this out of the way—I never stopped birding. Not for a minute! Sure, life looks a bit different now. Marriage and kids will do that to you, right? These days, “getting out in the field” means looking up at the trees lining the trails leading to the cranberry bogs I walk my dog on, listening for great-horned owls and wood thrushes, or watching a flash of yellow as the warblers return each spring. I ...

Difference Between Grackles and Starlings

I saw a sad sight today during my lunchtime jog—a dead grackle. Or was it a starling? I'll get to that in a minute. I was making my way down to the trail along the Charles River when I saw what I thought was an injured bird in the middle of the road. It was just sitting there and I figured it was just stunned or maybe had an injured wing. The bird probably didn't have much of a chance, but the least I could move it out of the road. As I got closer to the bird I saw it had its mouth open and then I realized the gruesome truth—it was dead and was frozen in that position. I just got shivers thinking about it. The poor thing. Anyway, so it got me to thinking 'What is the difference between grackles and starlings?' I use the two interchangeably and haven't really made an effort to sort it out. Until now. I like to use All About Birds from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as an online resource. The site is comprehensive and easy to use. (I also really like the 'Cool ...

Red-tailed Hawk Attacks a Girl at Fenway Park

Apparently there are three resident red-tailed hawks at Fenway Park. One of them attacked a middle school student from Connecticut while she was there on a tour of the park. She received a scratch on her forehead and was treated and released from Children's Hospital. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff What a terrible thing to happen, but at the same time I'm fascinated by these Fenway Park hawks. Boston.com has full coverage with both a news story and a pictorial giving a high-level account of the story. I recommend taking a look at the pictorial by clicking on the image above because there are some amazing pictures in there. WCVB, TheBostonChannel.com, also covered the story and has a video of the hawk watching visitors in one of the luxury boxes. The video captures both angles- the visitors chattering behind the glass and of the hawk perched in front of the window watching them critically. Click on the image to view the video (taken by reporters touring the park) on their site. It...

BirdingGirl

Search This Blog