This is a good demonstration of the dangers of relying on color in bird ID.
Of course it's worthwhile to consider color as one of the characteristics,
but it's not a good starting point; details of shape and structure are
first, then things like habitat, behavior, season, vocalizations, and
"standard" field marks (including color). With photos, of course, a lot of
those clues are off the table, so we should focus on every detail of shape
before checking anything else.

If this photo hadn't shown yellowish tones, I think most people would have
arrived quickly at the correct answer (juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird). The
yellow appears to be an illusion, probably reflected color from something
outside the frame. Ignore the color, and everything is right for juvenile
cowbird. Carlton Schooley and Blake Mathys have laid out the reasons.
Oriole and meadowlark are ruled out by bill shape (and many other things);
head pattern and chest pattern are wrong for House Finch; any plumage of
Dickcissel would show much stronger striping on the back.

Female and juvenile cowbirds are classic causes of confusion. It's
worthwhile to memorize the head shape, bill shape, face pattern, and every
other detail of these tricky birds, and this is a good time of year to do
it.

Kenn Kaufman
Oak Harbor, Ohio


On Thu, Aug 14, 2014 at 10:49 PM, Ron Looker <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> For those that are interested, here is the tally of all the responses.
>
> juvenile Dickcissel 2
> House Finch 5 (hybrid or yellow variant)
> Oriole 1
> Brown-headed Cowbird 1
> Juvenile Eastern Meadowlark  3
>
> Thanks for all the feedback.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ron Looker
> Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 10:58 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [Ohio-birds] mystery feeder bird
>
> There was a mystery bird at my parents feeder in Marion over the weekend.
> I'm not sure what it is due to the yellow on it. Thanks in advance for your
> help. Picture here:
> http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c373/ronlooker/011_zpsf0607373.jpg
>
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