# What bird do I have in my backyard?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 3, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062 "2011-02-03T19:45:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/1 "2011-02-03T19:45:23Z")
I am in Indianapolis. Today, our back yard has the normal visitors, along with a small flock (10-20) of something I don’t recognize. It looks kind of like a cross of a starling, grackle, and cowbird. Larger than a robin, smaller than a blue jay. I tried to take some photos, but as soon as I open the back door they fly away. I’ll try later if you think it might help. FWIW, they are most interested in the apple pieces.
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### Author:  [@purple\_cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_cow)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/2 "2011-02-03T19:58:07Z")
I’m assuming from your comparators that the birds were black. Assuming you’d have pointed out the bright red epaulet if it was a red-winged blackbird, I am going to call them Rusty Blackbirds. They flock, they eat fruit, they’re about that size, and they are mostly black. Did any of them have kind of a rusty brown wash to them?
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### Author:  [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/3 "2011-02-03T20:15:43Z")
From the vague description, crowds of starling sized, dark colored birds eating pieces on the ground could be slate colored juncos. Matches their m.o. and appearance to some degree. A more precise description would certainly elicit more accurate responses here.
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### Author:  [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/4 "2011-02-03T20:30:19Z")
Not the junco. The rusty blackbird isn’t quite right either. Of course, now that the fruit is all gone they’ve flown away. Hmm … think I have some grapes around here.
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### Author:  [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/5 "2011-02-03T20:32:53Z")
paging **Colibri** …
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### Author:  [@purple\_cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_cow)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/6 "2011-02-03T20:40:30Z")
Not really in their range, but the only other all-black, medium sized bird in the US in the winter that hasnt been mentioned is the Brewer’s Blackbird. Very similar to the rusty.
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### Author:  [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/7 "2011-02-03T20:53:03Z")
To be more specific and helpful, it had the iridescent head like a grackle, dark back like a ??? and spotted sides and underside of a starling. All the starling pictures I see show more black and white spotting than what I see.
OH … and it walks as opposed to hopping, if that helps.
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### Author:  [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/8 "2011-02-03T20:57:22Z")
What color was the beak? The only black bird in the US with a yellow beak is the starling. (Although in winter, you may not see that, either).
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### Author:  [@purple\_cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_cow)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/9 "2011-02-03T21:02:21Z")
Aah, male starlings change over the course of the year from almost no spotting to all-over spotting and back. It has to do with feather wear. And they walk instead of hopping.
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### Author:  [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)
#### Post date: [February 3, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/10 "2011-02-03T21:55:59Z")
They must be starlings. Yellow beaks and various grades of mottling. Thanks!
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-bird-do-i-have-in-my-backyard/570062/11 "2011-02-04T16:20:44Z")
Unless you have one of those super-comprehensive field guides with like 10 different images of the same species, the one image you usually get is very idealized and generic (for lack of a better word). Actual individual birds can vary quite a bit in some species.