[obol] Gray Goldfinch is back

[Dennis P. Vroman]

Floyd and others,

The overall shape and feather (flight) patterns of this bird are pretty much 
in line with what a Lesser Goldfinch should look like.  It appears that some 
of the primary flight feathers are brownish, and not blackish (with white) 
like the bird's tertials.  If this is the case, the bird is likely a Hatch 
Year (hatched this nesting season).  The molt sequence in Lesser Goldfinches 
is pretty complex and it appears this bird has replaced the tretials at 
least.  To me, the bird appears to be a Lesser Goldfinch with abnormal 
plumage coloration.

When you mentioned the gray plumage in your first message on OBOL, it made 
me think of some Lawrence's Goldfinch lineage, but it appears to be an 
off-color Lesser.  The blackish crown plumage and the wing bar/tertial 
patterns are pretty typical male Lesser Goldfinch.

Dennis (north of Grants Pass)
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Floyd Schrock" <fschrock at macnet.com>
To: "Oregon Birders" <obol at lists.oregonstate.edu>; 
<YamhillBirders at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 2:25 PM
Subject: [obol] Gray Goldfinch is back


> The blue-gray Lesser Goldfinch re-appeared in my backyard yesterday,
> and this time my robot cam captured a fairly good image which is
> available for viewing at http://empids.blogspot.com/.  I have not been
> able to find a photo or illustration anywhere of a bird that resembles
> this one.  I don't know whether to think "leucistic" or "hybrid" or
> "out-of-range" black-backed form, or something else.
>
> ========================
> Floyd Schrock
> McMinnville, Oregon  U.S.A.
> http://empids.blogspot.com/
> ========================
>
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