Bird ID

[dickcannings]

Queen K: Your bird is a juvenile Brown-headed Cowbird. The other finch-like birds on this thread are definitely Pine Grosbeaks. And butcher99 is correct--Purple Finches are extremely rare in the Okanagan (I've only seen one in 50 years of birding here). The BC Interior Bird List covers the entire BC Interior, and the birds of northern BC can be very different from those in the Okanagan.

[grammafreddy]

Thanks for the ID, Dick.

The BC Int Bird list shows Purple Finches every year for all the years on their website. Do you know where these birds have been sighted? Flaming Fingers is in West Kelowna. Might she be seeing the same one as the person(s) who reported it every year?

I'm not doubting your ID, just trying to get clarification about the sightings of the Purple Finch reported on your bird list.

[butcher99]

no purple finches in the Okanagan.

Odd. The BC Interior Bird List shows them here for the past 5 years.

You may find the very odd one here but it is pretty unlikely
. Really hard to tell from the photo but I think I would stick with pine grosbeak as well.

[dickcannings]

Regarding where Purple Finches are found in the BC Interior: they breed in central BC (Quesnel, Prince George, Peace River, etc.) and that population likely migrates east of the Rockies to wintering grounds in the central and southeastern USA. A handful winter at feeders in the Prince George area. Whatever the migration route, they are not usually seen at any time of year in the Thompson-Okanagan and most of the Kootenays. There are less than 10 records in the last century for Purple Finches in the Okanagan. And to reiterate, the finch pictures on this thread are Pine Grosbeaks.

[flamingfingers]

Thanks Dick - The female is certainly a ringer for Pine Grosbeaks in my trees! My daughter took the pics of the male and while I can certainly agree it matches the description of the the male PG, I am still going to keep my eyes out for another one I saw, who in fact was Quite Orange. Will see what I can do with some bird seed to lure that one closer so I can get a meaningful pic of it. Thanks again!

[grammafreddy]

Thanks, Dick, for that clarification on the range of the Purple Finch. I was not doubting your ID of the grosbeak.

[Queen K]

dickcannings, Thanks! I've always wondered what I captured there. Though I had no doubt as to the young age of the bird from the get-go, I never knew what I had. I must say, it seemed tame enough to "pose" for just one good shot, the other pic wasn't worth posting.

[magpie33]

Suggest you get a copy of the Checklist of the Birds of the Okanagan
Valley - available at Art Knapp's in Kelowna - then you won't be confused by sightings in other areas -although it does not specify which part of the valley and there are still some birds only seen in very special places or very rarely.
I would love to know where the
pine grosbeaks are being seen.

[grammafreddy]

Welcome, Magpie.

Is this the list you mean?

http://www.bcnature.ca/pages/checklist/ ... cklist.pdf

[magpie33]

Welcome, Magpie.

Is this the list you mean?

http://www.bcnature.ca/pages/checklist/ ... cklist.pdf

That list is useful but the printed list has sightings records for every month of the year so you know when certain birds can be expected and how rare they are .

[flamingfingers]

OK you birders.. got another one here I need your help with. This little guy showed up on my railing just now to grab some seeds I had left. I first figured it was a wren... about that size but then noticed that on the wings there was a horizontal GREEN stripe and where the wings folded onto the back, was a splash of BLUE - whether on the end of the wings or on the back I couldn't tell but quickly snapped this pic.. you can actually see the horizontal bar on the wing, which is Budgie green.
Here is heshe:

[grammafreddy]

Cripes - can ya make that pic any smaller????

[flamingfingers]

I 'can' make it larger but then I have problems attaching it... and also making it larger makes it a bit 'blurry' - if you copy it into your Picassa (what I use) or whatever you use, you can enlarge it to full screen size.

[butcher99]

Hard to tell from that pic but I think pine sisken.

[grammafreddy]

Yeah, it just gets blurry-er.

Check out ...

Pine Siskin
Female American Goldfinch

for starters. They both have black/white wing bars and both have yellow/green on them. The siskin has a longer very pointy beak and is a bit bigger than a goldfinch. The male goldfinches will be starting to get their bright yellow colour as soon as the mating season starts. Mine up here are still quite blah and are a greeny-browny-gold right now.

I don't know of any bird that has both blue and budgie green on it but some of the birds are getting their mating colours now so that might make them more colourful.

Maybe some of the other birders will have a better idea for you. I am no expert - far from it! I just take pics of them.