Joanne Powell wrote:

"Yesterday, for the second time, I saw a strangly plumaged flicker at the
suet block. The first time I saw it, its jizz was flicker, but the glimpse
was so short and the coloration so weird I decided that I had really seen a
starling/brown-headed cowbird cross - if there is such a thing! This time I
got a fairly long look but, of course, when I came back to the window with
my camera the bird had flown. I sat in front of the window, hiding behind
the curtains, for 3 hours but no luck. The bird had the body of a flicker
(beak, feet and all). Its head was a medium brown (about the color of
instant cocoa) - solid, no markings at all. The body was dark and speckled
with lighter spots. There was a bronze-irridescent cast to the body plumage.
Very similar to a starlings breeding plumage. I am very familiar with
flickers around here and have seen a lot of red/yellow flicker hybrids in
various plumages but this was too weird! I really hope someone has seen or
heard of something like this. I have never seen anything like it and will
try to get a picture. It's difficult to get home while it's still light
during the week. Boy, work sure cuts into the important things in life!"

I would vote for an immature Starling. The cocoa-brown color is right, as
well as the iridescence of the plumage, and the big beak can give a
"flicker-like" jizz to the bird.


Jack Stephens
Ellen O'Neill-Stephens
Edmonds, WA
<jsteph02 at sprynet.com>