What interesting creatures live in your garden?

[thistlebloom]

It makes me think of the female Evening grosbeaks we get. But it's hard to tell from that angle, and the beak doesn't look heavy enough.

 

[Nyboy]

I found a parakeet definitively non-native for NY. You never know.

 

[Lavender2]

Say this little one while wandering through Chinatown

I THINK it's some sort of tit, but I am not great with my birds (aprt from noting that, whatever it is, it is a bird I must not see all that often, or it would be more familiar.) I suppose since this IS Chinatown it might even have been some sort of non native escapee for something or other. I know there are a few birders on this forum, does it look at all familiar to you? (it's hard to see from this angle, but there are patches of bright yellow on the front of the breast and by the legs.)

Thanks, @Pulsegleaner , I always like learning about new birds...

There are a couple Vireos with coloring you describe.
Check out the Warbling and Philadelphia -
Birds of the World

All About Birds - more on the Warbling

I'm not real sure about them, but they would be in your area and you probably got a better look at the details than what I can see in your photo.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

I found a parakeet definitively non-native for NY. You never know.

Well, for those it's sort of dependent on the type. You are right that there is technically no parakeet native to NY (there hasn't been a parrot species native to the US since the Carolina Parakeet went extinct in 1918). However, the Monk Parakeet is extremely famous (or should I say infamous) for having developed MASSIVE feral populations in the Outer Boroughs (most notably Brooklyn) and becoming a major pest (their communal nests are so huge that the weight is causing things like building facades and telephone poles to collapse under the weight.)

Come to think of it, I once saw a bird I could have sworn was a budgerigar in a tree from the train.

I also remember an incident a camp in Sturbridge when I was a kid. One day I was heading towards the dining hall when I noticed a large group of kids discussing something rather excitedly. When I asked what it was, they informed me that, while they and one of the counselors had been playing a game of baseball, a parrot had flown down onto the field. Apparently they managed to get the parrot into a box and the counselor was taking it to the local pet shop to see if they knew where the local ASPCA shelter was and if anyone was missing a parrot. I sometimes wonder (the incident was really close to when I was done with my term at the camp, so I never heard the end of the story) if anyone ever did get that parrot, or it wound up being another camp pet, like Elvis the python (who I think they said had ALSO simply been found one day)

Also when I was a kid, one day we found a small (and unfortunately dying) snake in my backyard that at the time I was SURE was a coral snake (in retrospect, a scarlet king snake seems more likely, if my guess that is was an escapee pet was correct. Actually, when the snake died, I tried to preserve the skin, but ended up tossing it (I was a little kid, and did not know you have to CURE skins to keep them from rotting (or that just because a skin comes off easily does not mean you got all the fat off it.)

 

[Nyboy]

When I would visit my grandmother , at nursing home in New Rochelle, There was a large colony of Monk parrots living in a tree there. Don't know if they are still there, people consider them pests. I would wheel my grandmother out to tree and we would spend a hour watching them

 

[journey11]

Thanks, @Pulsegleaner , I always like learning about new birds...

There are a couple Vireos with coloring you describe.
Check out the Warbling and Philadelphia -
Birds of the World

All About Birds - more on the Warbling

I'm not real sure about them, but they would be in your area and you probably got a better look at the details than what I can see in your photo.

A vireo looks like a very good possibility. The beak looks right. From what I can tell in @Pulsegleaner 's pic, it has a distinct eye ring too.

 

[journey11]

I saw a new-to-me butterfly in my gravel driveway the other day, two of them actually, "dancing" around each other in the air. Goatweed Leafwing butterflies (Anaea andria) do border on their range here, but it is very uncommon to see one. They were too fast to catch or get a pic, but the unusual shape of the wing edge, leafy colored underside and striking crimson topside were very distinctive. So pretty!

(source)

(source)

 

[Pulsegleaner]

A vireo looks like a very good possibility. The beak looks right. From what I can tell in @Pulsegleaner 's pic, it has a distinct eye ring too.

So it looms to me, and yes it did have eye rings, I think (it spent a lot of time with it's eyes closed, so it was a little hard to tell

I managed to dig up a picture of a similar situation from a few months ago (not sure how many, but I remember it was absolutely frigid that day, so we're probably looking at some date in the winter.) Anyone care to try with this one ?

This one was pretty big (about pigeon sized) I keep thinking it's some sort of shorebird, like a plover or something.

 

[journey11]

So it looms to me, and yes it did have eye rings, I think (it spent a lot of time with it's eyes closed, so it was a little hard to tell

I managed to dig up a picture of a similar situation from a few months ago (not sure how many, but I remember it was absolutely frigid that day, so we're probably looking at some date in the winter.) Anyone care to try with this one ?

This one was pretty big (about pigeon sized) I keep thinking it's some sort of shorebird, like a plover or something.

I can't see the beak, but the size and coloring sounds like a Woodcock to me. I've only ever seen them deep in the woods before. What is the terrain like surrounding your home, Pulsegleaner? I thought you lived in the city. They are really unusual and fascinating little birds. I had one walk calmly in circles around me once, trying to lead me away from its nest.

 

[Lavender2]

I can't see the beak, but the size and coloring sounds like a Woodcock to me. I've only ever seen them deep in the woods before. What is the terrain like surrounding your home, Pulsegleaner? I thought you lived in the city. They are really unusual and fascinating little birds. I had one walk calmly in circles around me once, trying to lead me away from its nest.

The only other one I could think of is a snipe. Odd place for either bird, to be hanging out on the sidewalks.

@Pulsegleaner , you must tell them to get up and turn around.