Kara,



It's a bit hard to tell but it could be a leucistic ("partial albino")
Red-winged Blackbird, individuals of which are reported in this area from
time to time and can look really weird, like the bird in the pictures.



Gene Hunn

18476 47th Pl NE

Lake Forest Park, WA

enhunn323 at comcast.net



From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Kara
Whittaker
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 12:00 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] bird ID help please



Hello Tweeters,



A friend of mine who lives in the Skagit Flats area West of Mt. Vernon asked
me for some help identifying a bird that visited his yard last week. He
said,



"We saw it about mid morning at our hanging feeder first (black oil) during
the early (mild) part of our snowy period. These shots are in a nearby
apple tree. Have not seen it since."



I said the bill shape tells me oriole, but the plumage does not exactly
match any of the species in my field guides, and all orioles should be in
their tropical winter ranges by now. The dark hood and upper back match the
Baltimore Oriole, which is an eastern species, but the buffy streaked sides,
white underparts, and black/white tail aren't right for this species.



The two photos are posted here:



http://s549.photobucket.com/albums/ii397/kara_whittaker/





Thanks for your assistance!



Kara Whittaker

West Seattle