Mystery Bird

Do you know what this is? I don't. It has olive shoulders, an olive white back, and a white rump with a yellow spot. It's about the size of a Goldfinch:

Notice the white wing bars, and the yellow neck. What are you, bird?!? The House Finch which shouldn't be there.

This is another picture from the side:

The mystery bird strikes back

It's not a Goldfinch though; the head, rump and wing bar's pattern do not match. It also looked as though it had a crest at one point, but I think that was just hurricane/superstorm Sandy's wind. Please comment if you think you know what it is. Thanks!

-Mr. Bird

A Goshawk in Illinois?

Can you believe this? I strolled outside to let our dog in, and guess what greets me? An American Crow chasing a Northern Goshawk! Goshawks are really rare in IL. That's insane! That happened just this morning.


-Mr. Bird

P.S.: Sorry I couldn't get a picture. I was totally unprepared! :)

Ah.../Nuthatches

Ah... nothing like a dreary, rainy, fall day. And I only say that because I'm so used to hot, dry, summer days. But this, oh, it's really nice. We have a White-Breasted Nuthatch living in our tree. I named him Nutty. Nuthatches have an unusual habit of descending trees upside-down. I think it's actually fascinating. These are pictures:

This is the male.

This is the female.

The related Red-Breasted Nuthatch is actually closer related to the European Pygmy Nuthatch than to the White-Breasted Nuthatch. These are pictures of them:

This is a male, too.

This is a female of the Red-Breasted Nuthatch.

Now that I've showed you pictures, maybe you can spot them. As I've said before (twice), happy birding!

-Mr. Bird