I actually have no idea what this bird is. I couldn't find it in any of our field guides or on the Internet. It was about the same size as the cowbirds that have been coming around a lot, but much paler. At first I thought it might be a female cowbird, but it didn't resemble any of the pictures of females that I could find. As can be seen from the other photos, it shared the feeder with a brown-headed cowbird and a female red-winged blackbird. It stuck around for a good 20 minutes to half an hour, getting right into the tray and eating with gusto!

-I'm thinking that your gut diagnosis is correct! I found an identical shot of a female Brown- headed in "Field Guide to North American Birds", National Wildlife Federation, Brinkley. -All the features in your shot point to a Cowbird; also, if the bird returns, apparently the "raised tail while eating on the ground " is a special characteristic.

Hi Jim, thanks for your confirmation. I did some more research on the Internet and finally found a couple of images that resemble our visitor. The photos/illustrations in our field guides, as well as most of the images on the Internet, don't show the goldish coloring of the head, but rather a uniform grayish-brown bird and that's what I found confusing. I will keep an eye out for the raised tail. Is this a characteristic of the females only? I ask because the males that have come round don't do this, as can be seen from one of the photos I posted. Again, merci beaucoup!