I saw these two birds today at Ridley Creek State Park They both look like young house wrens what do you think?


Bird #1





Bird #2











sarah merion station, Pennsylvania zone 6B

Sarah,

It's kind of hard to tell from your pictures (and it's not a criticism of your photography skills - I know how hard it is sometimes to get a good shot of a bird that's moving around, especially the little brown ones) but I don't think either is a wren of any sort.

Wrens almost always have their tails cocked up at a sharp angle - while they can lower them, it would be extremely unusual for you to get this many shots of two birds and not one have the tail up. In addition, the bill on the first one definitely looks more finch/sparrow/bunting like, and I believe the one on the second does as well.

Beyond that, though, I can't be of a lot of help. My first instinct is to say "female Indigo Bunting" but someone may well shoot that down for reasons I'm not seeing.

Kevin Morgan
Baton Rouge LA

yes, Sarah... as you know, i am not really very much of a good birder..hoping to improve someday.. but that was my first thought..also...as i looked at the tail of your photos.. i agree on this point with the last poster.

i have seen so few wrens..but the few i have seen all have the little tail which is very short and sticks up straighter than most birds' tails.

also, aren't most wrens smaller than the bird in your photos?

All this being said, and because i am NOT a good birder, i am not sure what the bird is which you have photo'd

sorry i am not of much help.

alice

...


USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

The first thing that came to my mind was female Cowbird.


(Minnesota)

Sarah, my opinion mirrors Kevin's - female Indigo Bunting. Just a look at the bill eliminates any wren. The conical bill indicates sparrow/finch/bunting.

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Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

I'd just like to chime in that I don't think the two birds are the same bird - different color patterns to the back. I'm willing to go with female Indigo for #1, but I'm not convinced of that for #2. I wish we had a photo of something other than the back.

Jill

Benton, ME
Canon Digital Rebel XT
Canon EF70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM

Thanks everyone I guess it is a female indigo bunting Although the first picture reminds of a cowbird too. I wish I had a photo of the second birds face too. If this is any more help these are the rest of the photos of the second bird.



sarah merion station, Pennsylvania zone 6B

I was thinking cowbird.

Pam NJ 6B