[Birdtalk] the mystery red bird

[Rosemary Fasselin]

Hi All,

Earlier in the week I wrote regarding a bright red bird, the identitty of
which was a mystery to me.  First of all, thanks to everyone who has helped
me.  I had a ton of responses, all of which helped/directed me to
quasi-conclude that what I saw was indeed a VERMILION FLYCATCHER.  The few
things that led us to this conclusion were as follows:

1.  I spotted it on the very tip of a willow we planted along the river.
There are no coniferous trees, lots of bugs and water, a lot of wetland
grasses and plants.
2.  It was bright, bright red.  Relatively new to birding, I'm the first to
admit that I know very little about iding a bird.  However, I'm pretty
convinced that what I saw was much more red and brilliant than a finch.  I
didn't get a good look at the back, but most of the head and all of the
chest was vibrant red in color.
3. It was definitely not a cardinal.
4. Tanager was suggested as a possibility, but I've been told that they are
not red in the fall, so that couldn't be it either.
5. There were no conifers around, so I'm told the chance of it being a Red
Crossbill seems unlikely.
6.  When I first saw it, I immediately thought it was a red Chickadee.  It
didn't occur to me why I thought that, so today I looked at some pictures of
a Chickadee and I noticed the face markings are very similar to a Vermilion
Flycatcher with the little "eye patch".  This must have been the association
I made in those few seconds while I saw the bird.

And really, these facts leave only the Flycatcher.  Again, I'm sorry that I
didn't have my camera, especially because, if our team deduction is correct,
seeing this bird is pretty rare.  I'll keep my eyes out for him though and
if anyone is in the area west of I-15 and the new Legacy Parkway, north of
Salt Lake, please do the same.  Maybe he'll stick around for awhile and we
can confirm his existence.

Thanks again to everyone who responded and took the time to help me.

Rosemary
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