Gene Hunn and Greg Toffic both wrote:

>Could they have been Northern flickers?

No, flickers do come through my neighborhood occasionally, but these
weren't them. Smaller, browner, and perching in groups in deleafed bushes.
Perhaps they were goldfinches after all; I've never seen them in the
winter. Some of the birds seemed bigger than goldfinches, but more than one
kind of bird was present and my memory of which was which may be confused.
Everything else I can find with a white rump either doesn't occur in this
area (bramblings!, Northern Wheat ears, etc.) or is obviously wrong
(harriers, snow buntings).

Thanks for the suggestion.

Paul Talbert