CLOSED: Any thoughts as to what this might be?

I've cropped some in hopes of showing the feather texture, but tried to leave enough to give an idea of the scale. Wish I could see the head shape and/or beak.

Looks like some type of Owl to me.

Barred owl maybe? I just took a guess, not being able to see the front is a real handicap.



This message was edited Jul 4, 2009 12:35 AM

It's a wren species. I think house wren, but not sure.

I'd say Carolina Wren

Resin

Thanks for the suggestions. Just goes to show how important scale is. I, too, was thinking it was a larger bird. But after considering your suggestions and doing a Google image search, I'm fairly convinced it was a wren. Since house wrens are common around here, I'm betting on that. (The picture was taken by our birdcam, which explains why I didn't know if it was a large or small bird - except by the other things in the picture. It looked much larger than a wren to me.)

Unusual to see a Carolina Wren with it's tail pointed down like that but the feathers certainly look like one. It's feathers look too dark for a House Wren (to me). You can always tell when a Carolina is near by their song. It's very different from (and louder) than the House Wrens.

Thanks, Grammy Jo - I went to whatbird, and listened to the Carolina wren there. Can't say we've ever heard that around here. Even a house wren usually has it's tail up, too - that's a good point. I think the darkness of the feathers might be an artifact of the camera. Our birdcam tends to over-expose, so the colors often appear heightened. IF it's a wren, I think it's 90% likely to be a house wren, but I may never know for sure.

I went for Carolina Wren on the basis of the rather rich red-brown colour; House Wren is a more of a drab grey-brown.

Shame it didn't turn its head to see if it has a conspicuous eyebrow or not!

Any other pics of it?

Resin

Well Marty, I HOPE it turns out to be a Carolina and that you get to see it LOTS more AND hear it sing. They are really fun, a riot really......well except when you're trying to sleep and one's perched on your deck singing it's head off around 6:30am! They are REALLY loud. ;o)

Wren, and I thought some kind of owl. Dah, shows what I know. I was thinking this was a BIG bird.

Don't feel bad bltefft. I've told peeps that I thought certain plants were such and such and come to find out I was waaaaaay off. We all make mistakes. Even MartyJo thought it was a larger bird from the photo too. So you're in GOOD company! LOL Just wish we all knew exactly what it is and then this mystery would be solved. ;o)

It's a Carolina wren