Yes! I got a picture of that greeny yellowy bird!

[conuly]

There are at least two of them, and it took me ages to get a picture. Either they'd fly away before I got even to the door or they were there with some other bird, such as the red-bellied woodpecker, that I didn't want to scare off!

But finally there was one, and I lured it closer to me with some fresh suet and here are the pictures so I can identify this little guy!

Comments

[hudebnik]

A vireo or warbler. Unfortunately, there are literally dozens of species that look fairly similar to one another, especially in wintertime. Peterson's guide has eleven page-openings about vireos and warblers, followed by two page-openings entitled "Confusing Fall Warblers" (just showing them all over again in fall plumage, side by side). Peterson's also says most vireos and warblers winter in South or Central America, and won't be seen in winter north of Florida... but my Peterson's guide was written 45 years ago.

It's probably easiest to tell them apart by song.

[conuly]

Maybe this is an early migration? I mean, with climate change…

[rebeccmeister]

Have you ever seen this Checklist of Birds of NYC?

https://www.nycaudubon.org/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBaEFIIiwiZXhwIjpudWxsLCJwdXIiOiJibG9iX2lkIn19--cb3933f2cdd4b267827b1c70aa9c5f550d27bc93/NYCA_Birds_of_NYC_Checklist.pdf

I'm guessing warbler, but I'm a poor birder at best. My brother is the person who uses eBird and (somewhat obnoxiously) lists subspecies whenever he can (https://ebird.org/home). I've never used it so I don't know how helpful or unhelpful it might be for honing in on this one.

[conuly]

As noted, though, there's lots of warblers, just like there's lots of sparrows.

Though if I can be satisfied with not knowing exactly which at least two different sparrow species are in my yard I guess I can live without knowing exactly which maybe warbler this is.

[rebeccmeister]

Yeah, with the list, perhaps the best one could do is figure on one of the more common species, rather than one of the more rare species.

Warblers are cool. They remind me a little of seeing an indigo bunting for the first time, while in college in Boston in the late winter.

[hudebnik]

Quite possible... or, with climate change, some of them may have decided it's too much trouble to fly to Venezuela at all.

[profiterole_reads]

Nice!

[chanter1944]

Hi there, cool little greeny yellowy bird, whoever you are! :D

[julian]

Seems too big for most warblers. Could be a yellow-green vireo or similar...

I'd've said Goldfinch earlier, but now I'm mostly betting against it because they seem not to focus on suet eating.

[conuly]

It's a pretty small bird - Jenn commented on that a few times! But I'd have to see some side-by-side comparisons.

And yeah, these sweeties mostly seem to like the suet.

[julian]

Hm. In that case, maybe it *is* a warbler. I was confused by the second picture, in which it seemed to have a h-yuge bill, but I finally figured out that's part of the background hedge. (My laptop screen is sometimes counterproductive.)

In which case, it could be something immature, with, I now notice, a little cap. Palm warbler, maybe. (In the Providence area, anyway, those guys infrequently but occasionally overwinter.) Example.

(I also think an immature Goldfinch is too brown, and not green enough. Young Goldfinch.)

Or, yeah, vireos. Anyway! Bears more watching, clearly.

[conuly]

Yeah, no, the pictures are crap, you don't need to spare my feelings.

[julian]

Nothin' wrong with it being *both* my screen *and* your pictures.

[conuly]

Definitely not a palm warbler. The note says they wag their tails "almost constantly" and the video shows this, and this bird doesn't wag its tail at all. Plus, if that video is typical, with a lot of ground foraging, then it's worth noting that I haven't seen any of this bird on the ground even once.

[julian]

Ah, that makes sense.

Allaboutbirds sticks the Vireos in with the Warblers in its overall Bird Guide, in case you want to scroll down and explore. I suspect it'll be more productive to observe your bird some more and *then* scroll, but I link just in case.

Yellllow birrrrd, up high in banana tree

[frith]

Y'know that's a huge beak. I think you have a crossbill in winter plumage, a female or immature. That beak gives me a sunbird vibe, but not in this area of the globe.

Re: Yellllow birrrrd, up high in banana tree

[conuly]

I think you're being fooled by the bad picture quality - the beak does not look particularly notable in real life.

[chez_jae]

Very cool!