Saturday, December 23, 2006

the little goldfinch



You can't tell by the photo, but this little guy is only about half the size of the other goldfinches that come to our feeder. So small, that I'm expecting someone more bird knowledgeable than me (plenty of those to choose from) to tell me - "that's not a goldfinch you idiot - it's a ...."


goldfinch


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8 comments:

Susan Humeston said...

It's some sort of warbler - not sure which kind - but it's a warbler. They're tiny birds.

9:23 PM
Anonymous said...

That's such a great photo, and I had some time available, so I checked through my Sibley guide and here's what I came up with. At first, I thought it might be a dusky flycatcher because of the wing bars, but the flycatchers are too large for your description and mostly out west. Next near-hit was a Hutton's vireo, but again too large and again, out west.

I was just about to give up the quest when I came upon the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and I think that's what you've got there, even with no "ruby crown" in sight. Take a look at these images of an identified ruby-crowned kinglet:
http://www.davesbirds.com/Ruby-crowned%20Kinglet.html
Kinda looks like yours, don't you think?

Either way, I wish you bonne fêtes for the end of the year and the new one to come. :)

7:44 AM
Unknown said...

I've been watching one of these around our feeder for a few weeks now, and struggled to identify it, until it complied and showed a lovely red stripe on the top of the head. The other distinguishing feature was the incomplete eye ring. Yup, sure is a ruby-crowned kinglet. Get out the binocs and if you've got a male, watch for the red flash...amazing stuff.

5:39 PM
Susan said...

Thanks everyone - I'm away from home right now - anxious to get back home to my field guides!

8:13 AM
Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

What a great picture! Those are twitchy little guys, hard to photograph, I think.

1:02 PM
Mary said...

Greetings from North Carolina! I've been enjoying your blog for some time and thought I'd say hello. I live in Huntersville, north of Charlotte. We have only been living in NC for a year and I've passed Lake Gaston on my way up 85 north to Maryland through VA. Lovely lake!

I enjoy watching birds around my pond but I don't know much about birds yet. I just started photographing them with a new camera and find it's very difficult sometimes with IDs. I guess I'll need to study more!

8:43 PM
Julie Zickefoose said...

Better late than never--definitely a RC Kinglet! Is it eating suet? Rather an odd feeder bird.

6:38 PM
Susan said...

thanks Julie!

11:16 PM

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