Bird Board
Interesting bird at Zoo
Posted by Dan
almost 9 years ago
3 Comments
I saw an interesting bird at the Miami Zoo today at the gorilla enclosure. It had a black cap and back and white breast and long white tail. I didn't have binoculars and saw it from a good distance but it definitely was something outside of the norm. Structurally it reminded me of a cuckoo. Anyone know if any exotics have escaped from the zoo lately? I suppose a leucistic Boat-tailed Grackle could also be a possibility but it's plumage looked too clean for that. I have a real bad cellphone photo which I've attached to give a sense of what it looked like from a distance.
![Url], on flickr]([url=https://flic.kr/p/BA129L][img]https://farm1.staticflickr.com/702/23357251616_74c9069b7c_m.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/BA129L]Zoo_Bird[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/50042897@N06/]DWS76[/url], on Flickr)
Comments
Dan - Could your bird be a Pin-tailed Whydah?
I don't believe it was Robin even though I think they've been seen there before. The main body of the bird was around the size of a YB Cuckoo which I think would be too large for the Whydah. The tail was also white but that could be an aberration.
Hi Robin I am not aware of any escapees from our collection and if indeed it is a Whydah it came from else where as zoo does not have this particular species I will cerntainly keep my eyes open for this bird when I'm out and about doing my rounds.
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