Expert: Roger Lederer - 1/2/2009

Question
QUESTION: Dear Sir,
I cannot identify a bird that has been visiting my bird feeder this winter. The bird is black on top with white tip on wings and has a tan breast. Any information you can give me would be appreciated.

Thank You,
Peggy

ANSWER: If you can be more specific, I'm sure I can identify the bird. First, where do you live? Second, what does "black on top" mean - black all over the back or black on the head or? Are the wings black? What does the bill look like - short, fat, thin? And how was it behaving? Thanks.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey,
I'm sorry I wasn't more specific. First of all I live in Georgia. The bird was black from the head, to the tail, and on the wings except for some white on the wings. The breast of the bird is tan and the bill was fat. The bird was just sitting on a branch being very calm and waiting for other birds to leave the feeder so it could feed. I will try to take a picture of the bird if this is not enough information. Thanks for your time and effort trying to identify this bird for me.

Peggy

Answer
Well, your description was not very helpful, so I just made some guesses. You didn't tell me the size of the bird or the shape of the bill ("fat" is not a shape). I don't know of any bird that fits your description as you wrote it and I've been identifying birds for 50 years. Sorry I couldn't please you immediately.