Expert: Julia Booth - 10/8/2008

Question
QUESTION: Can you ID this bird for me?  I saw it on my backyard feeder.  It was robin-sized w/ cone-shaped beak. The tail appeared black, long, bent downward and forked at the end.  It clung to the branch off the feeder. No sounds and alone. Saw it at dusk.  Upper breast was pale red, belly was pale yellow.  Wings were distinctive w/ black and white markings on the lower half.  The upper half wings was brownish.  Thank you!

ANSWER: Well my immediate thought is a Western Tanager. But it would help me to narrow it down if I knew where you lived. A zip code or just the name of your county is fine.

Julia

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QUESTION: Sorry, I live Alpharetta, GA (a suburb north of Atlanta.)  My zip is 30022.  I will try to attach a picture, although it is not very clear.
Thanks, Julia

ANSWER: The picture is good enough. I always tell people that even a bag picture is better than nothing.

That is a female, Black-Headed Grosbeak. They are generally solitary or in pairs -sometimes groups of three. I had a mess of them at my feeders one summer and they never came back. They tend to hang out with the Goldfinches for some reason.

Happy Birding!

Julia

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QUESTION: That is definitely the bird, noting pics of him on some websites. I am wondering why he was here in Atlanta?  His migratory pattern appears to be from Western US down to Mexico for the winter.  Do migratory birds often stray off their pattern?
Thanks so much for IDing him for me!!
Carol

Answer
Birds stray from their patterns all the time. That's why we collect so much data about them, monthly counts etc. Tropical storms, early frosts, these things alter their behavior and birds are generally the most adaptive animals on the planet.

Like I said, I got a whole bunch of Grosbeaks one year and then never again. They go where the food is.

Coastal Georgia, SC, Florida is a very environmentally versatile area. It can accomodate a number of species. Have you been to the plantations in Charleston? If not, there is some choice birding there at the Audubon Garden -April through August.