[EBB Sightings] Mystery Bird at Children's Fairyland <47EAE0F1.2000601@powersedit.com>

I just returned from a 9 day visit to Hawaii where Saffron Finches were
daily visitors to the front lawn of our condo, usually showing up in pairs.
It was a treat to come home and see pictures of them taken right here in
Children's Fairyland.  Just like Kona.  Good job Hilary.
Russ Wilson
El Cerrito

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hilary Powers" 
To: ; "ebbsightings" 
Sent: Wednesday, March 26, 2008 4:49 PM
Subject: Re: [EBB Sightings] Mystery Bird at Children's Fairyland


> Ralf Stinson wrote:
>> I saw some of the other replies saying Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola) 
>> and
>> I recalled seeing one at Hickham AFB, Hawaii.  I checked my Hawaii's 
>> Birds
>> book and my pictures from Hawaii and it is an excellent match except for 
>> no
>> orange on the head.  We all know that diet plays a part in a bird's 
>> color,
>> so the 'missing' orange could be diet.
> The orange doesn't show well in the pictures - just a little in #3 - but 
> it was quite noticeable on the ground, adding greatly to our confusion. We 
> had 14 on the trip plus 2 leaders, and no one had seen anything like it 
> before.
> The pix at this site Glen Tepke suggested are very much like what we saw: 
> http://mangoverde.com/birdsound/spec/spec202-177.html
> I suspect the book may have played up the orange, or at least shown a 
> particularly well-marked individual - bird books tend to emphasize the 
> field marks, showing the equivalent of the movie stars and fashion models 
> of bird life instead of the ordinary chump-on-the-street sort of birds....
> -- 
> - Hilary Powers - hilary at powersedit.com - Oakland CA -
> -  Freelance copyediting and developmental editing   -
> - Author: "Making Word Work for You" - available now -
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