At Battle Creek Park in St. Paul yesterday, we observed an odd looking phoebe. The bird had a dark head and white throat, like a normal Eastern Phoebe should, but its chest and belly feathers were mottled grey-black (darker than any of its other feathers) and a bit patchy looking. The bird was busily and successfully hawking for insects with several normal-looking Eastern Phoebes. It seemed active and healthy, but its appearance was definitely unusual. (We were not able to get a picture, as neither of us has a good camera- sorry!)
Has anyone observed this odd coloration on a phoebe, or know what might cause it? To clarify directions in case anyone's in the area, this was the western side of Battle Creek Park, just east of hwy 61. From 61, take Lower Afton Rd east and turn north on Battle Creek Park Entrance Rd, following the entrance road up to the parking lot. Following the paved trail upstream, we saw the bird along the creek and wood edges about 150 yards in from the parking lot, around the first creek-crossing bridge. best, Melissa Licht and Eric Daigre ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
