Lenor Filler Posted October 4, 2018 Share Posted October 4, 2018 flocks of migrating birds this week in Halifax Va. on the lawn,, have orange breast are brown, longer neck and beak than robins , longer thinner bird ,, white line over the eye ,, the females ? look sruffy,, what are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aveschapinas Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 Some of your description reminds me of Northern Flickers, but other parts don't. By any chance do you have a photo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenor Filler Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 No picture I don't have a smart phone.. just noticed have a big white patch under their tail.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenor Filler Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 not as big and fat as flickers .. looking at rufous -sided towhee picture .. do they migrate in flocks??? they are pecking in the ground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bird Nuts Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 (edited) The Rufous-sided Towhee was split into the Eastern Towhee (your expected species) and the Spotted Towhee (the western species). Neither have white over the eye and, as far as I know, they don't gather in flocks on lawns. I have a few questions: Is that white marking over the eyes on all birds? How many of these birds are there? What is their feeding behavior (hopping and stopping, flying down from trees to the ground and back up, constant pecking on the ground, scratching in the leaves)? What is their posture (upright or more horizontal)? Edited October 5, 2018 by The Bird Nuts 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenor Filler Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 .. maybe 10 at a time.. pecking in the ground . where . grass has just been cut I only noticed the white line on 1 .. but yesterday saw the big white patch under the tail.. which made me think of towhees.. I am a long time bird watcher I would say they are upright .. they come in late afternoon in a bunch.. they really look like long skinny robins.. what I assume are females have some white among lighter brown back feathers any thrasher with orange breast? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bird Nuts Posted October 5, 2018 Share Posted October 5, 2018 Okay, thanks. I can't think of anything else they can be other than just long, skinny robins with possibly a leucistic individual in there. American Robins have white undertail coverts, broken white eyerings, and orange breasts and they can be brownish above and, like all birds, can stretch themselves out and flatten their feathers to look long and skinny. The only thing that does not seem right for robin is pecking at the ground, but you didn't say whether they were doing that constantly or not. My other options were: European Starlings (juveniles) Red-winged Blackbirds (females or juveniles) Eastern Bluebirds (females of juveniles) All of these gather in numbers on lawns, but they all don't quite fit your description. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenor Filler Posted October 5, 2018 Author Share Posted October 5, 2018 I guess they are long skinny robins.. and almost hop.. thanks... emaciated robins …. I am in my 80s and can identify many birds but this bunch are odd looking I know the female red wings come first.. and can identify them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenor Filler Posted October 7, 2018 Author Share Posted October 7, 2018 One bird I saw up close had white patches on back among brown feathers .. which made it look scruffy .. {leucistic] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urban snipe Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 i cant find the link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IvoryBillHope Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 9 minutes ago, urban snipe said: i cant find the link There is no link, and this topic is from four months ago. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urban snipe Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 okay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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