>From the beak to head ratio I don't see this being any type of grouse. It actually looks quite a bit like a juvenile Clark's Nutcracker - body ratios and color are right. Not the greatest picture to judge from but I'm saying more likely a corvid than anything else.

Rob Conway
Camas, WA
45.58?N 122.44?W - elevation 310 ft.
robin_birder at hotmail.com





> To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> From: squeakyfiddle at aol.com
> Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 23:03:05 -0400
> Subject: [Tweeters] Mystery bird at Seward Park
>
> One of the regular Seward Park walkers found a mystery bird in the
> northern part of the Seward Park peninsula late in the afternoon on
> Thursday. It popped up out of the underbrush to perch in a cedar tree,
> was the size of a large quail, and made no sound.
>
> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/513/fpvk.jpg/
>
> The pic isn't that good, but check out the beak, the kind of speckled
> back and the fluffy breast feathers. I've posted the image to another
> natural history site where I'm active. Someone there suggested Sooty
> Grouse, but the range map on Bird Web shows Sooty Grouse located
> further up the foothills. I checked the Dusty Grouse range, too - their
> year round range is a bit nearer to us. I can imagine a young grouse
> getting trapped in a load of hay/wheat/produce from their usual
> stomping grounds, escaping en route along I-90 and heading to the
> biggest visible green area . Not to say that it's likely, but I can
> imagine the possibility, right?
>
> Fact is, we're all stumped enough to consider the possibility that it's
> an exotic game bird that was recently dumped.
>
> Does anyone have any ideas?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Catherine Alexander
> Lakewood Neighborhood
> South Seattle
>
>
>
>
>
>
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