Saturday, I was in eastern Iowa, visiting with relatives. My niece had planted flower boxes on her deck, and a bird I had never seen visited one of them as we watched.
The bird's body was a mustardy gold color. It's wings were barred in black and white, rather like a downy woodpecker's wings. It was slightly smaller than a robin, and had a similar shape. I didn't get a good look at it's beak, but it seems to me that it was long and pointed, rather than the blunter beak of a cardinal or gross-beak.
I browsed through my bird books, and the closest thing I could find to what I saw was a female "Northern" or "Baltimore" Oriole.
Can my birding friends suggest any other birds I might look at that fit that description?
I've never seen a deep gold bird before.
Comments (4)
You may well have seen a Baltimore oriole, or perhaps an orchard oriole; but, I wouldn't be able to pin it down any better than you can, Buffy. What did it seem to be doing in the flower box? Orioles do like nectar (they will visit nectar feeders). Which reminds me of the male goldfinch that has been visiting our hummingbird feeders!
Posted by Cop Car | May 16, 2005 9:05 AM
Posted on May 16, 2005 09:05
She was checking out the flowers in the box. I recall that there were impatiens, but I can't remember the other flowers. At any rate, there were blooms for her to visit.
She wasn't the pale, refined gold of a gold finch. She was a mustardy gold that was a bit brighter than the pretzels with a mustard coating.
I'll have to ask the other women what they remember of the bird.
Posted by buffy | May 16, 2005 2:13 PM
Posted on May 16, 2005 14:13
Doesn't that just drive you nuts when you see a new bird and can't identify it for sure?
Posted by bogie | May 19, 2005 5:27 AM
Posted on May 19, 2005 05:27
It certainly does! There's a warbler that is similar, but the bars on the wing are gold and black, so we're all voting for an lady oriole, here.
Posted by buffy | May 19, 2005 4:11 PM
Posted on May 19, 2005 16:11