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From: tag@tty3b.UUCP ("Tom Gloger"3974 97320)
Newsgroups: net.rec.birds
Subject: What is this bird? (Chicago area)
Message-ID: <620@tty3b.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 25-Feb-85 13:29:16 EST
Article-I.D.: tty3b.620
Posted: Mon Feb 25 13:29:16 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 27-Feb-85 08:33:36 EST
Organization: Teletype Corp., Skokie, Ill
Lines: 30

I'd like some opinions from experienced birders.  We live 30 miles northwest
of Chicago.  On February 24th, at 7:30 am, my wife and I spotted a new (to
us) bird at our front-yard feeder.

It was the color of a slate-junco, about the size of a starling, and had a
short, stout, dark beak.  The head looked lighter than the body.  Compared
to the house-sparrows we normally have, it's movements seemed slow and
deliberate.  (Are "mannerisms" a valid identifying feature?)

Was it a brown-headed cowbird?

The picture of the brown-headed cowbird in the Golden Field Guide to Birds
of North America matched almost exactly, but the accompanying map indicated
we shouldn't expect to see them around here until April.  How much faith
should we place in those maps?  I recall them being "right-on" when it came
to identifying a transient white-crowned sparrow during migration.

BTW:, Do starlings normally develop small white spots in the winter?  The
Golden Field guide is somewhat sketchy about seasonal color changes.  I had
to find out about mallard drakes from a kid's magazine.

                        Tom Gloger
                        AT&T Teletype Corporation
                        Skokie, Illinois
                        ihnp4!ltuxa!tty3b!tag
-- 
			Tom Gloger
			AT&T Teletype Corporation
			Skokie, Illinois
			ihnp4!ltuxa!tty3b!tag