OK, obsessive compulsive behavior alert. I woke up this morning to the sound of birds. Various songs and calls. It was beautiful. I could identify the cardinals and the orioles, but someone was making a racket I couldn't recognize.
I went outside to feed the koi, and there, in the avocado tree, was a flock of ... something. They were jay-sized. They were black, with a white eye line. They had long-ish, sharp beaks (like a blue jay). The beaks were bright orange. They had white wing patches.
They are not in my Audubon Field Guide to the Birds of North America. They are not starlings, or red-winged black birds. They are not anything I can tell.
Nor, after an hour of internet research, and let me tell you, I can write a search query better than most folks, are they on the internet. I can't even find an on-line field guide.
Of course, I didn't get a photo, either. Any birders out there with any sort of clue? Remember, it's winter and I live on the end of Florida, so there are migratory birds passing through.
I went outside to feed the koi, and there, in the avocado tree, was a flock of ... something. They were jay-sized. They were black, with a white eye line. They had long-ish, sharp beaks (like a blue jay). The beaks were bright orange. They had white wing patches.
They are not in my Audubon Field Guide to the Birds of North America. They are not starlings, or red-winged black birds. They are not anything I can tell.
Nor, after an hour of internet research, and let me tell you, I can write a search query better than most folks, are they on the internet. I can't even find an on-line field guide.
Of course, I didn't get a photo, either. Any birders out there with any sort of clue? Remember, it's winter and I live on the end of Florida, so there are migratory birds passing through.