Thursday, October 26, 2006

What the heck is this?


Spotted Towhee (juvenile)
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.
My fans are going to start recognizing my unique photographic style (ahem) but still this is a mystery bird. Spotted Towhee (juvenile)

In my yard for about a week now. Could NOT figure out what it was. Poured over the internet, Sibley, Peterson . . . no clues. The best I could come up with was Fox Sparrow but I was NOT happy with that. It would have had to be a weird fox sparrow -- just not right! Look at all the white spots all over it. It's weird.

But, today, I got a clue!

The little darling was in my front yard . . . for just a second. It was hanging with two California Towhees and a Spotted Towhee.

I mulled over it all day (I'm sure my boss is glad to know that while teaching math, I'm mulling over odd birds in my yard). Finally, it dawns on me . . . what if it's a juvenile Spotted Towhee. So, I google "juvenile spotted towhee" and voila . . .

link
link
link
link
link (this one in particular cracks me up -- I'm thinking I'll know soon if my bird starts looking absolutely BIZARRE that I'm spot on (get it!).
link

So, what do you think? Am I right? Can you even tell with the horrendous quality of my photos? Comments? Ideas? Opinions?



First Thirteen Birds on my Year List
  1. Red-tailed Hawk
  2. Acorn Woodpecker
  3. Western Scrub-Jay
  4. Dark-eyed Junco
  5. California Towhee
  6. Steller's Jay
  7. Chestnut-backed Chickadee
  8. California Quail
  9. Great Blue Heron
  10. Sharp-shinned Hawk
  11. Turkey Vulture
  12. American Crow
  13. Merlin


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



4 comments:

LauraHinNJ said...

Overall shape compares well with the pics, but I really don't have a clue because we don't get them here!

Susan Gets Native said...

OH, man....I can't even tell ya. But all this year's baby birds should be in adult plumage now.
It looks like a cross between a robin and a towhee.
;)

Anonymous said...

Is there any color on it? It's really hard to tell. Have you tried this site http://www.whatbird.com/
It is one of the best
bird id sites
You know better what you saw, I can't really tell from those photos.

Anonymous said...

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