Wednesday, December 16, 2009

MYSTERY BIRD IN THE BRONX


From YouTube: 'This mystery bird, possibly a Saffron Finch has made a few appearances in my yard. If anyone has any ideas about what it may be, I would love to hear it. Thanks.'

1 comment:

  1. It is definitely a Saffron finch.

    Either that or someone took one of those feral sparrows and dyed it!

    Saffron finches are often kept as cage birds, but some people also keep the males for the rather sinister sport of caged bird fighting.

    These birds come from South America, and the Bronx is known for its Latin American culture. So maybe someone had it as a caged bird, and it escaped.

    It is interesting that it is flocking with house sparrows, which are European imports. It is an Old World sparrow and isn't even remotely related to the saffron finch, which is in the tanager family. Tanagers are found only in the New World.

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