I've been seeing a bird at my feeder in the back yard which I can't
identify. I'll confess here that there are a LOT of birds I can't identify,
but not the ones in my yard. I am not in any way an experienced birder, so
my description/observation probably won't be very scientific. Anyway,
here's what I know:

It was seen at my feeder which is on the edge of the forest. The few times
I saw it, it was eating sunflower seeds. It spooks very easily, which is
part of the reason I can't give a better description. When I tried to get
closer it went back into the woods. This bird was a bit larger than a
sparrow, and a bit smaller than a robin .... perhaps half way in between.
The underside was a very pale yellow or brown, the back and head were brown.
One key thing I noticed is that it's bill was large for it's size ... not
long, more conical. The bill appeared to be dark gray. On the head were
three black stripes. One above each eye and one down the middle. The eyes
were dark, they looked black. I spaced out and didn't notice or remember
what color the legs were. (sorry, my memory capacity is low and I didn't
have a notebook handy). There was some very pale streaking in the zone
between the yellow/brown underside and the darker brown backside.

That's about all I can say. I have the National Geographic field guide, and
I looked at every picture in the darn thing and didn't see one that looked
like it. One picture that seemed fairly close was the female Black Headed
Grosbeak. What I didn't like about that picture was that the stripes on the
head of the bird I saw were much more distinct than the ones on the bird in
the picture. Also there was a little more ... shall I say streaking ... on
the back in the picture. The one in my yard had a more solid color pattern.

Would anybody care to take a crack at it? I have not been birding long or
hard so it could easily be something that would be obvious to a smart
person. That's enough. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

Dale Christensen
Olympia Wa
susidale at susidale.com