Rare Bird Visits Seward

Posted on: February 25, 2009 | Sporadic Bird | Comments Off | Print Article | Rate Post:

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Hopping around on the ground gleaning sunflower seeds scattered below birdfeeders is a plain, brown, stripy bird that is causing quite a stir among birders. The Cassin’s finch female is over 1000 miles north of where she should be, and no one knows why. This is about the 5th published record of a Cassin’s finch in Alaska, making it a Life Bird for many Alaskans, and an Alaska Life Bird for many others. Birders from Fairbanks, Kodiak, Homer, Soldotna, Eagle River, Mat-Su and Anchorage have already driven down to Seward since it was first reported on February 21st, hoping for a glimpse of the finch.

She looks a lot like the brown, stripy pine siskins she hangs around with, but a closer look shows several differences. First of all, she has no bright yellow color like the pine siskin. Though both birds are small, she is about 1 ½” bigger than the 5” pine siskin. Her bill is quite large and chunky compared to the slender bill of the siskin. She has two light-colored patches on her head, one over her eye, and one by the lower bill.

The only other bird she might be confused with is the very similar Purple Finch female, another out-of-range species that has visited Seward before. The Cassin’s has a light-colored eye-ring, a longer, straight bill, streaks on the undertail feathers instead of plain white, and distinct streaking on the breast instead of blurred like the Purple finch.

So keep an eye out for a slightly larger brown streaky bird among the hordes of pine siskins. You could have a rare visitor too!