Thanks all for your comments. I feel politely admonished for not taking photos when I had the means and the opportunity. I had asked whether anyone had heard of House Finches with deformed bills. The answer was Yes. I also asked whether it was likely to have a R. Crossbill on our feeder at this time of year. The answer was, anything is possible. I also asked about further ID factors to consider. The R. Crossbill is a bulkier bird. Our visitor was exactly the same size as a typical H. Finch. So, there was enough evidence to reverse the call on the field. The default call is H. Finch with a deformed bill.
Photos next time!! I promise. Bill McAneny -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
