Is this a new species of bird?

I just sent them an email.. Hopefully that will reply soon with an answer.

Thanks

no problem.

i hope you get some answers soon. i got interested in this one.
the bird looks like it has one of those venetian masks on its face.

It is a wierd looking bird. I saw this thing sitting on the rail and it wasn't even scared of me. It did keep it's eye on me though. I had to have pictures, I just wish I had a better camera available at the time.

any response?

(just bumping a thread.)

Definitely not an owl. Look at the legs! Owls have a downy covering on their legs. Also the eyes are to small.

Definitely not an owl. Look at the legs! Owls have a downy covering on their legs. Also the eyes are to small.

Definitely not an owl. Look at the legs! Owls have a downy covering on their legs. Also the eyes are to small.

Sorry about the three posts. My computer glitched.

What an intriguing thread. I've done a bit of research and have come up completely blank. OP, can you give us an idea about the width of the rail it's on? It would really help on getting a handle on the approx size of this bird. Also, I know I'm asking a bit much here but can you post any images of the flora surrounding the area the picture was taken? Finally, ddi you actually see this bird fly and if you did, what was it's motion like?

Thanks

i think its a young rusty blackbird or a lark of some kind

The railing size is a 2x4. I received an email back from a local man who knows a lot about birds. He said the image is not the greatest so he can’t be 100% sure but he thinks it is a baby blackbird or starling.

So I went and did some research and found images of baby blackbirds and starlings and these are the images I came up with. They look nothing like this bird. He also said the leathery mask is a very young bird without it’s feathers.

Here are the links to the baby birds I found on the net:

Blackbirds in the nest still

Starlings still in the nest

These look nothing like my bird. No leathery mask!

Originally posted by Stari
The railing size is a 2x4. I received an email back from a local man who knows a lot about birds. He said the image is not the greatest so he can’t be 100% sure but he thinks it is a baby blackbird or starling.

So I went and did some research and found images of baby blackbirds and starlings and these are the images I came up with. They look nothing like this bird. He also said the leathery mask is a very young bird without it’s feathers.

Here are the links to the baby birds I found on the net:

Blackbirds in the nest still

Starlings still in the nest

These look nothing like my bird. No leathery mask!

The bird that you have taken pictures of looks like a baby crow. Now I know you will go out and try to find baby crows in the NEST, but that won't do you any good because you are trying to compare your bird to ones found in a nest. It is clear that your bird is not in the nest. The bird you took pictures of looks as if it is about 3to 4 weeks old. Not a just recent hatched bird that you keep comparing him to. Sorry if I have come across stern, but i am a vivid bird watcher and I have a pet mockingbird that i feed. he is a wild bird but he comes to me everyday and I feed him a peice of bread. Their are other birds in the yard that are called finches. Their are hundreds of them and some times I see their babies that have just left the nest and they look similar to the parents but the babies have some small white dots on their neck. I thought these were new birds that I had discovered. I drew a picture of what they looked liked and went NC state collage asked some people their that were into birds., if i had found a new species. They looke at the picture and asked me a few questions about the location of the birds i saw and about what more did they look like. Finally they brough me a picture book of different birds. their were hundreds of different birds in that book(i wish I new the name of it now) and they go to the finches. They told me that sometimes the babies will get spots on their necks just like the ones i soptted and that it was rare but they sometimes do. Now back to your photo I think it is a type of CROW not black bird. I have tried to look for baby crows that just left the nest but I cannot find any, just ones that look just like their parents. I bet they are out their on the internet, i just might be asking the search engine the wrong words. I am going to save the pictures of your bird and I will ask thoes people again at NC state collage. I wish you luck on your find and I will try to get back to you as soon as I get a response from them.

here is a list of bird clubs of ohio that you may want to contact. Their #'s are listed. I wll caontact them too is you want?
www.ohiobirdfair.com...



[edit on 5am4 30 200 by goddogo1]

[edit on 5am4 30 200 by goddogo1]

[edit on 5am4 30 200 by goddogo1]

from recent studing that is a baby short earred owl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the person that posted that owls have downy legs your right but since it is a baby and just left the nest it wouldn't have and downy legs.

YOU WERE VERY PERSPECTIVE!!!!



[edit on 9-4-2007 by austinthetitan]

Originally posted by austinthetitan
from recent studing that is a baby short earred owl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the person that posted that owls have downy legs your right but since it is a baby and just left the nest it wouldn't have and downy legs.

YOU WERE VERY PERSPECTIVE!!!!

[edit on 9-4-2007 by austinthetitan]

Any links showing a similar looking baby short eared owl? What I could find look nothing like the "mystery bird".







Definitly not an owl. The legs are still too skinny!

Close. The leathery mask is present, and they are fluffy. But those pics have long pointy beaks and the one in question does not.

I still have not heard anything back from the people that I sent your pics to overthe internet. I have been trying to contact other bird people but the answere is the same out of all of them, I don't get a response

I just wonder if the bird experts are running around like a chicken with its head cut off about the photos? I was wondering How come the short eared owl came up it looks nothin like the bird in question, now I seen some pictures of Long eared owls their face resembles the bird in question but nothing else. The bird we are looking at dose not seem to me to be a hatchling it allmost looks like an adult. What is strang is the size of the tail?

Originally posted by austinthetitan
the person that posted that owls have downy legs your right but since it is a baby and just left the nest it wouldn't have and downy legs.

It already has the downy feathers on it's tarsi when it leaves. Also, the parents, and siblings, would be very close if it were an owl and had just left the nest, up to a month, sometimes longer. If a baby is spotted with no downy legs, it would have to have been just hatched within days and would have fallen out of the nest. Falling out happens pretty frequently with owls, and the young owl may walk up to a mile away, but the parents will still watch over and feed it. When it does start to learn to fly, it returns to the nest with its siblings.

Therefore if the mystery bird were an owl, which it is not, it would still be too young to even struggle flight, or stand up! If it couldn't stand up or fly, how could it get on whatever it is standing on. There also seems to be chainlink fence in the background, how would an owl so young get over this?

Let's face it, its not an owl.

I think its a baby crow. But I could be wrong.

I used to raise birds of prey including small owls like the Screech owl. This is most definitely NOT an owl. Besides the lack of a hooked beak for tearing flesh, notice how the toes are splayed. Regular birds show three toes in front and one behind. A bird of prey has grasping talons with two in front and two in back. Not the case in this photo. On occasion, when landing on a branch a toe may appear to be in front, but never on a flat surface like the 2x4 in the OP.

To me this looks like an immature starling or grackle. Immature birds often look nothing like the adults. Plumage shape and color can often be wildly different in fledgeling birds. A good way to find out what it is, is to visit your local nature center or science museum. A local ornithologist should be able to ID that bird in short order.

In Evolution, a new species develops over time and not in one quick moment. Mutation perhaps, but not a new species. I would still go with a common local fledgling.

[edit on 15-4-2007 by Terapin]

Originally posted by Terapin
In Evolution, a new species develops over time and not in one quick moment. Mutation perhaps, but not a new species. I would still go with a common local fledgling.

But if a bird mates with another bird species then an entirely new species would evolve from that mating. It would not be just a mutation but a new species.

At least this is how I see it.