Peregrine and Great Horned Owl treat crow as a delicacy, genetics will out,
even in the grosfinch...do not feel bad, Audubon illustrated species that
do not exist, and may never have existed...there is a sandpiper in the
Smithsonian collection that has never been seen anywhere else...nature has
her little secrets
On Tue, Aug 25, 2020 at 3:21 PM Alan Contreras <acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From personal experience I know that changing the recipe does not change
the taste.
Alan Contreras
Eugene, Oregon
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
www.alanlcontreras.com
On Aug 25, 2020, at 3:18 PM, Tom Crabtree <tc@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Darrel,
We’ve all been there before. While leading a field trip I once identified
a plastic milk jug as a Snowy Owl. At least your bird was breathing. I
hope the corvid you are consuming isn’t “Northwestern Crow.”
Tom
*From:* obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On
Behalf Of *Darrel Faxon
*Sent:* Tuesday, August 25, 2020 1:56 PM
*To:* obol <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [obol] grosfinch
OK.
I saw the bird.
I have seen Bill's photos.
I have studied Chuck's photos.
I have read the comments.
Consequently, some thoughts are in order.
(1) Given the fact the consensus from a number of very good birders
is that the bird was not a Pine Grosbeak, I concede I may have been wrong.
It is not the first time it has happened, and it likely will not be the
last.
(2) None of the photos by either Bill or Chuck look to either Laura
or me like the bird looked in life. Whether that is an artifact of
lighting, camera function or faulty imagination on my part is for others to
decide.
(3) The fact that the bird was in ratty plumage did not help in the
identification process.
(4) As others have pointed out, there seem to be discrepancies
between the plumage of the bird as photographed and that of any of the
disputed species as shown in the field guides.
(5) Under the circumstances, it might prove helpful, to some extent,
to shed some species by process of elimination. Excluding Common Rosefinch,
which does not need to be considered, there are six members of
Fringillidae, that could be considered. Pine Grosbeak, Purple Finch,
Cassin's Finch, House Finch, Red Crossbill and White-winged Crossbill. Toss
the crossbills. Taking a cue from consensus, toss Pine Grosbeak. We are
down to the three carpodacus finches.
The bird in question had a deeply forked tail. Even though Sibley does not
show this mark for Pine Grosbeak, nearly all online photos of the species
reveal it to be a prominent feature of that species' plumage. House Finch
has a squared off tail, which is even useful in separating it from Purple
Finch, which has a deeper fork. Toss House Finch. When I first saw the bird
in question at my feeder, I assumed it was a Black-headed Grosbeak, because
they had been regular at that same feeder right up to the day of the
sighting, and this new bird was every bit as large as a Black-headed
Grosbeak. In the study I did of it over the next two and a half hours, much
of the time during which it was sitting in plain sight on an exposed branch
of a cherry tree about thirty feet from me, I had the same impression of
its size. Additionally, at one point it was in the feeder with a Pine
Siskin, and the size difference was obvious. One of the photos taken by
Bill Tice shows this fact. I have many Purple Finches at my feeder every
day all summer long, and never once have I seen one I mistook by size for a
Black-headed Grosbeak.. Based on size, toss Purple Finch. That goes for
Cassin's Finch as well.
So what that that leave? I still think there were features of the
bird as I saw it, that answer to PIne Grosbeak, but the photos do not back
up that assessment. For one thing, the bill is simply flat out wrong for
that species, and given that discrepancy, I see no point in discussing
other features of the admittedly ratty plumage.. Grosfinch. pure and
simple. I would like to think this sighting proved to be a learning
experience for myself and others, but what any of us might have learned
seems to me be as much in question as the identity of the bird.
Thank you to all of you, who responded to my posts in regard to it,
both on OBOL and in private. Crow doesn't taste so bad if one puts enough
whipped cream on it.
Darrel
