Thursday, January 5, 2012

White bird in Midway

I went to Midway to the home of Jim and Elizabeth Smith in hopes of seeing the white bird that Jim thought might be a McKay's Bunting, based on his experience with this species in Alaska. The bird had been hanging out on the ground under their feeder with a flock of Chipping Sparrows. When I arrived, the bird had flown up into a tree near their driveway so the only photos I got were looking at the bird from underneath. It looked snow white to me. Nancy Crosby and Jim reported that when the bird flew it had dark wing tips, and that there were grayish dark markings near the nape of the neck. I did not see any of this. We stayed until nearly 5 pm but the bird never came back to the ground. Nancy and her husband John plan to return tomorrow and hopefully get other photos. Cheers, Diana




1 comment:

  1. I might be way off here but it looks to me like a Leucistic Sparrow of some sort. It looks just a bit too light of frame and lightly colored on its wings tips and beak to be a McKay's (though I've never seen one myself of course).

    A cool, rare, and very interesting find either way!

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