Did we see a Bahama Mockingbird?

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Posted by Tom Fuller on 11:03:50 10/30/09

Dear Miami birder colleagues,

My wife and I were driving/birding "Alligator Alley" August 16. I photographed the following bird about an hour west of Miami. (I could calculate a more specific location if helpful.)

I dismissed it as a Northern Mockingbird since it lacked the streaks and other marks on the flanks and undertail coverts.

I am haunted by the very yellow eyes, the brownish cast, the huge beak, and the clear white tips on tail feathers. In one picture where growing new tail feathers are visible, the white tips are dramatic. I have never seen this combination of features on a Northern Mockingbird in over four decades of (amateur) birding. Is this a Bahama?

Here are two pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomfuller2001/4049058467/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomfuller2001/4049804792/

Thanks for the help.

Tom Fuller
Principia College
Elsah, IL

Tom.Fuller@Principia.edu

• Photo of mockingbird

Follow Ups:

• Re: Did we see a Bahama Mockingbird? - Larry Manfredi 12:20:13 10/30/09 (0)

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