Hi, Dale:

You've probably had a bunch of replies but it really does sound like a
female Black-headed Grosbeak. I've got 4 pairs of BHGR at my house and
all but one of the females have quite distinctive stripes on their heads.
The other has pale stripes and her whole body is a bit lighter than the
other three. I think perhaps, as in other birds, there are enough
variations in color intensity to make it necessary (if possible) to have
a number of birding guides with different photos/drawings of the same
species.

Regards, Joanne
jopowell2 at juno.com
Reardan (Spokane) WA

On Fri, 14 Jun 2002 17:27:34 -0500 "Susi and Dale"
<susidale at susidale.com> writes:
> 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
>
>


Regards, Joanne
Reardan (Spokane) WA
mailto: jopowell2 at juno.com