Dear Kara, Dennis, Gene, and Tweeters,

Thanks for sharing this bird. This is the third one of these in the last two or three years in Skagit County alone.

I like to call them "Giant American Redstarts." One came to my feeder a few years ago.

Yours truly,

Gary Bletsch ? Near Lyman, Washington (Skagit County), USA ? garybletsch at yahoo.com ? ?


--- Eugene and Nancy Hunn <enhunn323 at comcast.net> schrieb am Di, 30.12.2008:

> Von: Eugene and Nancy Hunn <enhunn323 at comcast.net>
> Betreff: RE: [Tweeters] bird ID help please
> An: "'Kara Whittaker'" <kara.whittaker at gmail.com>, tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Datum: Dienstag, 30. Dezember 2008, 23:51
> 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
>
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