I had a very similar experience in the Louisville Swamp area last weekend except I was able to eventually get a better view and it was brown thrasher so that's a pretty good guess.
Dan Hawkins NE Minneapolis -----Original Message----- From: Minnesota Birds [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Danielle McLaughlin Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2012 8:19 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [mou-net] [mou-rba] help with mystery bird ID Hello-I was wondering if anyone could suggest the identity of the amazing songster I heard yesterday. I was out cleaning the paddock when I heard an unfamiliar song--it didn't repeat or have any pattern that I could discern. At that point I started searching for it. It was quite backlit in the bright sun--but it seems to be the size and shape of a slender grackle-with a longer beak. I could just make out some stripes on the breast. The song was amazing-reminded me of the lyre bird-it kept changing, and I'm certain I heard it say "ribbit" as if it was mimicking a frog! After perusing the MOU birds of Minnesota list I have settled on brown thrasher as a possible identity for this bird. When it flew away I saw a reddish brown back and wings, low, swooping flight like a woodpecker. Does anyone have any other suggestions? I'm new to Minnesota so this is just a guess! Danielle McLaughlin Washington County ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
