At any rate, getting back to the photo, we see a backlit bird feeding on seeds in pine cones. Based on the conical bill, it's pretty clearly a passerine. It's perched at an odd angle with the tail pointing downward toward the camera so looks oddly short. Perhaps a person might consider a nuthatch for that reason, but the bill is clearly wrong. Based on the information presented, of a passerine with a conical bill feeding on pine seeds, the assumption would be that it's a finch, and if so then the best guess would probably be pine siskin based on the bill shape.
That's not what this is. It's a red-winged blackbird, flocks of which have been feeding on the pine seeds from the cones around my house. While we think of them as birds of marshes and fields (quite correctly), they apparently branch out considerably in their large migratory flocks in the fall to take advantage of other food sources in settings that a person might not have expected:
2 comments:
Well done, Matt! I wouldn't have guessed RWBB based on the wing projection in the quiz. Note how short the tail appears to be. Keep up the great work!
Jerry
This was a good one, Matt! I was leaning towards a PISI myself. keep the blog going. Its one of my favs along with Jerry Jourdan's.
Jeff
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