Jill-

Sounds like a male Townsend's Warbler, from the description. They're
insectivores, so their diet consists mainly of protien, and during the
winter, if they stick around, there aren't too many bugs, so they'll
turn to suet. Next time you see him, check and make sure he has a
olive-green back, just to seal the deal. In regards to the
"noviceness" of the sighting, I think that anyone would be caught off
guard by this bird right now, they're supposed to be further south
right now. I wouldn't worry about it. Good Sighting!

-Chris Duke
dukec at cc.wwu.edu
Bellingham, WA

JLScott53 at aol.com wrote:


>At the risk of sounding like an idiot, I'm hoping someone can tell me
what
>bird I saw this morning. I should tell you that I'm not really an
active
>birder, more of a, let's say, proprietress of a bird bed-and-breakfast:
most
>of the birds I see are from my kitchen window. Luckily, I live in a
place
>where I get a diverse mix of guests. So anyway, this morning I saw a
little
>bird picking at the blueberry suet. It looked like a chickadee at first
-- it
>was more or less that shape and heft -- but when I got closer I noticed
it
>had a yellow head with black stripes. (I know there are a lot of other
things
>about it I was supposed to notice but didn't, mesmerized as I was by
its
>pretty head.) It was very brave -- didn't even fly away when I opened
the
>door to let out the dog. I looked in my Sibley's and decided it must be
some
>kind of warbler. Is that right? I've never seen a warbler of any kind
in the
>wild before, so I feel pretty clueless.
>
>For what it's worth, I live about a half a mile from what was once a
>beautiful second-growth (?) forest and is now a clearcut wasteland
where a
>new housing development is about to be. We've seen a lot of unusual
visitors
>lately, not, I think, uncoincidentally (including a pileated
woodpecker, a
>Bewick's wren, starlings for the first time, some kind of raptor I
couldn't
>ID, and even a flying squirrel). Any ideas? What should I look for if
the
>bird comes back?
>
>Jennifer Scott
>Bainbridge Island
>JLScott53 at aol.com
>