[MahasiMethod]

Hello, friends. Lately I find myself increasingly interested in birds and birding. So I am at the very beginning of what will be a life-long path of learning.
I have a pretty straightforward question. In summer of 2007 or 2008, in Brentwood Bay, BC (on the Saanich Peninsula, Vancouver Island), I saw what was, to me, a totally unfamiliar bird.
I was out on my friend's 3rd floor balcony (beside the BB Public Library) when this strange bird landed on the wooden railing, bopped its head at me for a few moments, and then flew away.
After some time with a field guide the next day I determined it was almost certainly a California Thrasher. So I'm really just wondering - how rare a sighting is this? Thank-you.

[Jeremy Gatten]

California Thrasher is exceedingly unlikely in British Columbia. It is very closely tied to the chaparral habitats in California. In fact, this species has only been recorded in Oregon a couple of times in the very south of the state, and it has never been recorded in Washington.

Weird birds do turn up in seemingly random places, but due to the habitat requirements of this species it is quite sedentary. I actually have an example of a rare bird from Brentwood Bay as I grew up there and still live nearby. In mid-March of 2006, I looked out the front door at the feeder for a while and then got the scope and set it on the feeder. A green bird popped up in the field-of-view and it turned out to be a female Painted Bunting! This species has an established pattern of vagrancy, but had only been recorded once in British Columbia at the the time. It has been recorded four or so times since then.

As you have a lifetime of learning ahead, I can only offer an alternative suggestion as to what you may have seen. Considering you saw the bird at a distance, the size may have been hard to judge. A bird that has a vaguely similar shape that is common in Brentwood Bay is the Bewick's Wren. The obvious difference is the white supercilium (eyebrow) and a more contrasting brown-and-white pattern. Bewick's Wrens will land up on fence posts, cock their tails, and have a wide array of calls.

Good luck with this hobby - it is a gift that keeps on giving and I think it will truly enrich your life!

Jeremy Gatten
Saanichton, BC

[MahasiMethod]

Hi, Jeremy. Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure why you assume that I saw the bird at a distance. Well, I did see it at a distance; a distance of three feet or four feet.

After spending a considerable time gazing between the Le Conte's Thrasher and the California Thrasher I concluded it was a California Thrasher. A perfect match. Both of these birds are close in appearance to the bird I saw and I did not see any other bird in the field guide that looked like my bird at all. (The curved bill is quite distinct.)

Actually the photo in my original post is close to actual size, although it certainly was no bigger than that. Maybe only slightly smaller.

[Jeremy Gatten]

Well, I assumed that you were seeing it from the third floor balcony looking down on the bird. Both California and LeConte's Thrashers, for what it's worth, like to stay buried in the chaparral and are very hard to get a look at.

If the bird was somewhat large, the only other suggestion I have for a common bird to the area is female Northern Flicker. Once again, this some different field marks but if the bill happened to be the central focus perhaps other features faded into the backdrop. Here is an example of one - it has an unmarked head, a slightly curved bill, and can have a rather horizontal posture when they're not clinging to the side of a tree:

http://ridgefieldbirds.com/Images10Apr/ ... -15-10.jpg

The only really plain-coloured bird in the summer that I can think of that throws a lot of birders off is a juvenile European Starling. They can have an ever-so-slight curve to the bill:

http://m5.i.pbase.com/u48/tgrey/upload/ ... ingJuv.jpg

I have a feeling you are absolutely convinced it is a thrasher, so I won't try to persuade you any further. Occam's Razor is sometimes applied in birding but it's not always right. The chances of a California or LeConte's Thrasher being on southern Vancouver Island, however, is an instance where I personally would apply this theory. I have been birding for over twenty years and have a good understanding of vagrancy and can tell you that the two birds to mulled over are very sedentary and the likelihood of seeing one here is essentially zero. I'd love to eat my hat on that one, but climate change won't extend the range of chaparral this far north in my lifetime!

If you had suggested Brown, Sage, Bendire's or Curve-billed Thrashers, that's a whole different story. The former two species have an established pattern of vagrancy in BC and there are multiple records of each along the coast. The latter have not been recorded in BC, but it is not entirely unexpected as they have both turned up in Alberta.

Well, that's all I have on the subject of thrashers in BC for now.

Good birding,
Jeremy Gatten
Saanichton, BC

[MahasiMethod]

In my original post I said that the bird landed on the railing directly in front of me - though it did fly up from below. I hear what you are saying regarding the Le Conte's and the California Thrasher.

Well, it's even more interesting now. And I really don't mean to seem obnoxious. I suppose it could have been a Curve-billed thrasher with a thinner bill. That would certainly do nicely. I do remember passing that fellow over in the field guide because of the thickness of its bill. But wait a minute, Jeremy. I can't be telling you what it was at all. I'm out of order. I can only tell you precisely what it looked like.

Having said that, the Brown, the Sage and Bendire's thrasher don't look at all close. Nor do the other birds you offered.

Thanks again, Jeremy.

[LoganLalonde]

Just thinking out loud....... If you saw that distinctive long, deep-curved bill, the long tail, and that sandy colour, it just might be a Toxostoma genus thrasher...

[MahasiMethod]

Yes, a couple of those look promising. Especially the Crissal Thrasher.
I've bookmarked your blog and your flickr stream. Nice work, Logan!

[Nonnobissolum]

I don't think I can help you ID the bird but I think I can offer you one tip. You can easily verify all this yourself using ebird.

For reasons I don't understand, it regularly happens that an extraordinarily rare bird will show up a a particular location and then years later, often many years, an individual of the same species will show up at exactly the same location. Sometimes again and again over decades.

Keep your eyes peeled! You just never know!

[russellcannings]

Like Max, I'm not sure if I can be of much additional help, but I would be interested in hearing in your own words--what the bird looked like, instead of simply saying it looked like the photo you posted.

Other than the curved bill, can you recall any other specific fieldmarks on the bird?

What about the shape and behaviour? As Jeremy mentioned, even in the heart of Cali Thrasher country, they rarely perch higher than the crown of a low shrub, but rules can certainly be broken. You mentioned that it "bopped it's head at (you) for a few moments." Does this mean it was bobbing its head? Can you be more specific? Helpful behavioural points would include: Did it hop along the railing, or simply perch, rocking it's head in different directions? Was it's tail cocked (ie roughtly held upward at a 45degree angle) or was it planted down on the railing?

This may sound trivial or redundant but your impressions of shape, colour, and behaviour can actually be really helpful in either supporting certain species hypotheses and eliminating others.

Cheers,

Russ Cannings
Nanaimo, BC

[MahasiMethod]

Hi Russ. Hi Max. The bird flew up to the wooden balcony railing from below. I didn't notice from where specifically. As soon as I saw it there in front of me I thought, "Oh hello. I've never seen you before!" And then I scanned it for identifying features so that I might identify it later in a field guide. Unfortunately it was pretty uniform in appearance. Brown-grey coloured. Long dark curved bill. It was large. Roughly the size of the photo in my original post but certainly no larger. Sleek rather than plump.

As for its behavior, I realize now that "head bopping" is probably a specific term in the bird world, to which I am a relative newcomer. I did not mean to imply that its head motion was at all like that of e.g. a pigeon. What I meant was, after it landed on the railing, it turned its head from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock and back again. Each time it did so it seemed to hunch down or quickly lower itself approximately one centimeter as it turned its head, perhaps readying itself to spring into flight. In other words the lowering and the head-turning were in synch. It remained there on the railing for roughly ten seconds.

Edited to add: Its tail was in line with the rest of its body so that if one were to see it in profile it would appear more or less straight.

Kind regards,

Daniel
Brentwood Bay

[russellcannings]

Thanks Daniel,

Very interesting. I'm not sure if we'll ever be sure on this one.

For what it's worth that behaviour sounds like classic flicker, as they do a lot of head bobbing and motioning side-to-side. Thrashers on the other hand assume very alert postures after landing, with head held high, tail cocked or pumped gently, perhaps with the odd jerky turn of the head but the posture remains stiff. The other thing is that flickers are a commonly playing around on the sides of houses, drumming on drain-pipes or searching for ants etc., and are probably one of the most likely species of any size to turn up on a third-story balcony.

Flickers are indeed brown-grey overall but also have a black bib and spots on the underparts as well. Many might assume that these are obvious fieldmarks but as Jeremy suggested, sometimes these other marks can be neglected in favour of memorable behaviour or other features such as long curved black bill.

To be clear, I'm not saying you saw a flicker. But I'll just throw it out there that flickers are far and away the leading "what is this bird?" culprits that I and other birders receive. They're tricky birds in that they're woodpeckers but also hop on the ground, perch on railings, and do all sorts of things that woodpeckers aren't supposed to do. They're medium size is also deceiving, and I've witnessed many an experienced birder (including myself) try and turn them into other birds like robins, bluebirds, even small hawks! They're shape-shifters I reckon!

We all have those birds that got away, and who knows, maybe you did see Canada's one and only California Thrasher.

Welcome to the wonderful and mysterious world of birding. I hope you continue to get out there and learn new birds. Part of the fun is that you never know what you'll see next!

Russ Cannings
Nanaimo, BC

[Nonnobissolum]

It is hard to disagree with anything Jeremy or Russ have said here but I will add this.

Before it actually happened no one, and I really mean absolutely NO ONE would have believed that a Xantus's Hummingbird could EVER show up in Gibson's. But it did. I seem to remember the person who found it didn't know what it was either, but they knew it was different.

I can't remember who first positively ID'd the bird but I am surprised their head didn't come off its swivels. Mine would have exploded. This is a bird with essentially NO vagrancy pattern AT ALL except maybe in southernmost California.

That is the beauty of birding, weird stuff happens all the time and sometimes it happens to novices. Too bad this one wasn't nailed down at the time, it would be the only way to be sure.

[russellcannings]

So true Max,

It almost seems like the more you know, the less you know.

Here's to more (pleasant) surprises from the amazing feathered folks. Dem tings have wings dey does!

Russ

[MahasiMethod]

I appreciate everyone here who has offered their help. Originally I only wished to know how rare a sighting it was. What I learned is both very inspiring and slightly depressing. (Mainly that I did not have a camera with me.)

Nonnobissolum,thank-you for telling me about the Xantus's Hummingbird and its wonderful appearance in Gibson's. In the future, once I've earned some true competence in birding, I won't be telling people that I've seen a California Thrasher, or any another of the thrashers with curved bills! But I was laughing out loud earlier today after day-dreaming a comical scenario with me fifty years in the future as a 90-plus year old man, laying in bed at the RJH.

Lifting my arm and pointing toward the sixth floor window:

MahasiMethod: "God dang it, it's a California Thrasher!"

Nurse: "Speak up, Mr Method. You don't have a rash. Remember I checked you yesterday."

[keithric]

This has been a very interesting thread.
As another who favours Occam's Razor, my guess should be obvious.
On the other hand, who doesn't love happy surprises?

But that's beside the point. Thanks to MahasiMethod for having had the curiosity to ask
and for accepting the feedback with a lovely blend of humility and perseverance,
topped off with a delightful sense of humour!

Now, back to thrashing the bushes for the little beggars….