nh birder

Medium large black bird {about size & shape of a Brewer's Blackbird or Common Gackle} with distinctive long yellow bill & yellow legs & dark eyes. The yellow matches & is very distinctive. The bill is longer than a European Starling & was straight not curved or hooked. It is never with crows & is smaller than a crow. It has always been alone when visits back yard feeder & does not stay long enough to photo. Has visited suet & flat feeder. I have seen it 3 times in late May in NH. Thought it would be easy to identify on line but can't find anything so far that looks like it. Closest match to beak & leg color is the European Starling but not glossy or spotted & the bill is definitely longer.

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Jun 03, 2012

reply
by: nh birder

Thank you for your feedback. That's the only thing that seems logical but there was no sheen or irridesence that I could see. Just black, like a cow bird or red-wing blackbird body color. I kept telling myself it must have been a starling just not like any starling I've ever seen. Most usually are not alone & have a deep blue/green/black "glossy look" once they've lost their winter spots. This bird had no sheen at all and the bill & legs were such a startling deep yellow-orange contrast, it made me search numerous internet sites. Perhaps there is a transition stage between spots & the usual glossy look when its dull black and I happened to see that transition stage?

Jun 02, 2012

Breeding Adult Starling?
by: Susan

I wonder if it is a breeding adult starling. Their spots wear off to produce plumage, with green and purple sheens.

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