Subject: [Tweeters] Exotic at Montlake Fill - Pin-tailed Whydah?
Date: Jul 28 08:43:09 2011
From: Cyd and John Wallace - jcwall224 at msn.com


I was at the main pond at the Fill at 7:30 today and was flabbergasted to see what I thought was a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher flying towards me, although the flight pattern was weird for a flycatcher. As it got closer, I didn't have a clue what it was. It's body was approx. 4", with a white face and body, bright orange stout sparrow-like bill, a black cap and black back with black shoulders framing the white breast, brownish primaries, and it's most notable feature, 2 long tail feathers which were approx. 8" - twice the length of the body. It looked like a Pin-tailed Whydah in Birds of the West Indies, although I didn't see any black on the face, just the black cap, and the primaries showed as brownish. plus the Whydah picture looks like it has at least 4 feathers in the tail, and my bird only had 2 that I could see.

John Wallace
jcwall224 at msn.com