Mystery bird

[Bill Kosar]

I saw this bird way back in August of 2013 and have never been able to figure out what kind of bird it is. I kind of think I saw it out by Chico ranch but I am not sure of this. Any help in ID would be appreciated. b

Thanks

Bill Kosar

El Paso county

[Bill Kosar]

Gemini (which we did not have in 2013!) says it is an immature red-winged blackbird but I don't think I have seen another.

Bill

[Bill Kosar]

Copilot says it is most likely a juvenile robin........

[Rachel]

Hi! I believe this is a yellow-headed blackbird, probably immature as you said. Note the black mask, the bib on the chest, and the color coming in on the head.

An immature red-winged blackbird tends to be browner and streakier overall, not only streaky on the belly like we see here.

Best,

Rachel Leggett

Arapahoe County 

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[Judd Patterson]

Hi Bill,

Your photograph shows an immature Yellow-headed Blackbird. Here is an an example of a couple late-summer birds in similar plumage: https://media.ebird.org/catalog?birdOnly=true&taxonCode=yehbla&mediaType=photo&sort=rating_rank_desc&age=juvenile,immature

Best,

-Judd

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[Bill Kosar]

This clip from the Macaulley library seems to support Judd's link pictures pretty well, these guys look much better than mine!

Bill

[Caleb A]

Hello Bill!

In high school, I worked for a gentlemen who owned property that was home to a large Yellow-headed Blackbird nesting area, so as soon as I saw this picture, this is certainly a young Yellow-headed Blackbird. Although some of that thicker streaking on the undersides can resemble Red-winged Blackbird females/juveniles, the yellowish wash as in this picture would not be found on a Red-winged Blackbird. Neat picture!

Happy birding,

Caleb Alons

Larimer County

On Thursday, February 5, 2026 at 9:31:00 PM UTC-7 Bill Kosar wrote:

[Ajit Antony]

Hi Bill.

I decided to put your mystery bird to the test of Merlin's (the app) photo ID ability. I clicked on Photo ID, then Choose Photo where I used a screenshot of your photograph, and Yellow-headed Blackbird came up as the only ID, consistent with Caleb's ID.

You needn't have waited all13 years... the photo ID feature of Merlin's Bird app has been around since 2016.

Ajit Antony

Central Park, Denver, Colorado

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