Hi all, Scott's interesting posting about fall warblers reminded me of a bird I saw= last weekend (Saturday) that had me baffled. I was at the UK research farm just north of Lexington when I noticed a fair= ly large passerine hopping about on the grass. At first glance, I passed = it off as a juvenile mockingbird, going off its size and general behaviou= r (hopping unashamedly around on open grass and then moving to a gravel-c= hipped area and hiding under some trucks). However, when I took a closer = look, it had a stouter beak (more tanager-like) and the face and breast h= ad a distinct greenish tinge. It also had a pale wing bar and some subtle= facial markings, but the most distinctive feature was a cinammon tail (a= gain, fairly long, which had made me think mockingbird).=20 In my experince, juvenile mockingbirds are basically paler versions of the = adults, very grey. If I had seen this bird up in a tree I would have thou= ght it was an oriole (female/immature), but I have never ever seen an ori= ole walk around on the grass or gravel like this (usually >20 feet up a t= ree!). Again, though, the beak looked too stout for a mimic thrush. Any ideas anyone? Cheers Ian Ian Stewart T.H. Morgan School of Biology University of Kentucky Lexington Kentucky 40506-0225 (859) 323-9499 ================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBERS============== The BIRDKY Mailing List requires you to sign your messages with first & last name, city, & state abbreviation. -------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, send e-mail to: birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx -------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send e-mail to: birdky-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject line. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Kentucky Ornithological Society web site at http://www.biology.eku.edu/kos.htm * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison, Richmond, KY E-mail: gary.ritchison@xxxxxxx