I am at my parents' home in rural Johnson County (between Iowa City and Solon), and among the birds coming to their feeders are two unusual individuals.
One is a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. His primaries, however, are clearly brown, not black. His rump has black specks amongst the white, he has some small white/light patches on his head, and his bill is quite pink, with a red stripe. The bill coloration might be due to wild black raspberries or sour cherries, both of which can be found on my parents' property. Any ideas what might explain the other unusual coloration? The second is a male cardinal who is missing feathers on his head. We are reasonably certain that this is due to mites. My parents have had a similar male cardinal at their feeders every summer for several years now, which we are guessing may be the same bird. Some summers the cardinal has been completely bald on the head; this year (so far) it's not quite that extreme. So far I haven't been able to get any photos, but I will try to post some if I do. Lorinda Lorinda H. M. Hoover, OSL [email protected] (Living in Rockwell city, but reporting from rural Solon) --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/membership.asp. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
