[TN-Bird] Re: Do Purple (or House) finches and American goldfinches hybridize??

Hi Dean
Oy vay. It's been so long since I've seen a Pine siskin that I didn't even 
think about that. After sifting through 3 pages of Google images, I found 
close-enough examples of both birds that <blush> this 
seems to be the most plausible explanation (although none of the Google images 
are as extreme of coloring and markings as the 2 birds I saw).

Sheesh. <blush>

Thank you <blush> for pointing me in the correct <blush> direction.

Liz Singley
Kingston TN

<blush>


------- Original Message -------
From    : kde@xxxxxxx[mailto:kde@xxxxxxx]
Sent    : 2/23/2009 1:29:21 PM
To      : raincrow@xxxxxxxxxx
Cc      : 
Subject : RE: Re: [TN-Bird] Do Purple (or House) finches and American 
goldfincheshybridize??

 
Wasn't a Pine Siskin?

Dean



On Mon, 23 Feb 2009, Raincrow wrote:

> I had two oddballs mixed in with ~40 Am. goldfinches last week in my 
> driveway, ~5 miles south of Kingston in Roane County, feeding on black oil 
> sunflower seeds.
>
> Both were goldfinch-size.
>
> One was a pale brownish-gray from head to the ends of its wing coverts (at 
> first glance, the side view looked like a pale Savannah Sparrow, then I saw 
> its high-contrast flecked breast, as high-contrast
> as a female Purple finch; head fairly drab and plain). THEN I got a load of 
> the yellow, black, and off-white (pale ecru) in its primaries, rump, and 
> tail, and they clearly belonged to a male Am.
> goldfinch. It had pale ecru wing bars where a male Am Goldfinch would have 
> white bars.
>
> The second looked much like a miniature female Purple finch (as described 
> above) without the flashy behinder, but on the sides of its pale ecru belly, 
> peeking out just below its folded wings, were 2
> very dark, nested swoops that extended almost from the leading edge of the 
> folded wing to beyond the end of the wing coverts. SPECTACULAR! Reminded me 
> of some of the dramatic markings one might see on
> ducks.
>
> I've never seen anything like these two l'il fellers/fellinas. (Yes, I was 
> sober!) Someone please offer a guess as to what I was seeing!
>
> Liz Singley
> Kingston TN (Roane Co.)
>
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=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to SIGN YOUR MESSAGE with
first and last name, CITY (TOWN) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the COUNTY in which the birds
you report were seen.  The actual DATE OF OBSERVATION should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
      To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
                    tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________ 
                To unsubscribe, send email to:
                 tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
            with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                ------------------------------
                Assistant Moderator Andy Jones
                         Cleveland, OH
                -------------------------------
               Assistant Moderator Dave Worley
                          Rosedale, VA
__________________________________________________________
         
          Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
              web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

                          ARCHIVES
 TN-Bird Net Archives at http://www.freelists.org/archives/tn-bird/

                       MAP RESOURCES
Tenn.Counties Map at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/states/tennessee3.gif
Aerial photos to complement google maps http://local.live.com

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