Orlando, FL Female Brown-headed Cowbird? (1 Viewer)

[WESO]

Hello! This question is for a bird the arrived yesterday in Orlando, FL. I was hoping that a female Indigo Bunting arrived at my millet feeder, but now think that it could be a female Brown-headed Cowbird. I'm trying to put an accurate listing down for eBird, but small female birds can be a hard ID for me. The bill size and throat patch seems to lean towards cowbird. Thanks in advance.

 

[Butty]

Blue grosbeak or indigo bunting. Brown-headed cowbird doesn't show warm tips to greater and median coverts, general gingery colour, smudgy underparts. Might help further if you have photos with head in profile and bill closed.

 

[WESO]

Butty, thanks. I do have a couple more photos. I'll say that it is roughly the same size as the painted buntings that use the same feeder. It is just as shy as those birds as well.

 

[WESO]

And a short video that shows some of the behavior.

 

[lgonz1008]

Female Indigo Bunting, bill too small to be Blue Grosbeak and Painted Buntings would have much more color (the drabbest Painted Bunting is lime green)

 

[THE_FERN]

Female Indigo Bunting, bill too small to be Blue Grosbeak and Painted Buntings would have much more color (the drabbest Painted Bunting is lime green)

Also contrasting white throat and faint streaking underneath

 

[Butty]

Also contrasting white throat

Brown-headed cowbird also shows a pale throat-patch, and typically also short dark malar-type markings somewhat resembling this bird's - so that's not a very useful feature in this particular case.

 

[WESO]

Thank you all! I'm more comfortable saying Indigo Bunting for eBird. I'm happy for it not to be a cowbird, if only for my bird seed budget. I also ran Merlin audio for the afternoon and Indigo Bunting showed up, but Cowbird did not.

 

[THE_FERN]

Brown-headed cowbird also shows a pale throat-patch, and typically also short dark malar-type markings somewhat resembling this bird's - so that's not a very useful feature in this particular case.

Pale rather the whitish throat we see here in my experience. Anyways the distinction is indigo bunting vs blue grosbeak not the cowbird (since it's clear it's not the latter)