What is a small yellow bird called?

Answer 1

I believe one possibility is a "white throated sparrow"! I saw one at my feeder today here in PA and thought it looked a lot like other sparrows except for the touch of yellow on the head and it did not really look like a finch. I had not seen one before and spent some time poking around the Web till I found it. If it was more yellow overall, it could then be a goldfinch or even something else. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

There are probably HUNDREDS of small yellow birds out there. You would have to tell me the habitat (Forest or meadow? Mountain or lakeside?), the geographic location (Panama or the Arctic? The US or Africa?), and the size of the bird compared to other birds (Is it bigger than a sparrow but smaller than a dove?) all this might give me enough info, but I might still need more. For example, if I saw a small yellow bird, here is how my thought process would go: (Psst. All those of you that are reading this, if you want me to id a bird for you, try to give me some of these characteristics I'm about to tell you about.)

First things first. Say I'm driving down the road, and I spot this little yellow bird sitting on a telephone wire. The first thing I'm going to do is think to myself: I'm in Texas, in the US. (Okay, that's technically the first step, but we all know where we live, so that is about a quarter-second of the real id). Next thing, I look and see what area I'm driving through. Let's pretend I'm in the countryside, and there is a field in this area the bird is at. After that, I say: how big is this bird? I picture a sparrow in my mind sitting next to this bird. Okay, definitely bigger than a sparrow. Let's see... How about a small falcon? Too big. How about a cardinal? You know, that's just about the right size. All right. So now we now this bird lives in Texas, by a field, and is about the size of a cardinal. That's something to go off of, but we still need more, so we'll go to physical characteristics. What are the colors of this bird? Looks like lots of yellow, and a good bit of grey. Okay... Lots of birds are grey, but not as many are yellow, so we'll focus on that. So where is the yellow on this bird? Appears to be all on the belly, with the grey being on the back. I'm starting to get a pretty good idea of who this little birdie is, but let's check a few more things to be sure. What does the beak look like? A hawk's? Absolutely not. A finch's? Maybe, but this looks a bit longer. Okay, how about a thrush's? That's a little bit closer. So kind of triangular, but also kind of longer. Wait, what did he just do? He flew off the wire in a little loop and flew right back. That's what a flycatcher does to catch bugs. So now we can guess that he is probably in the flycatcher family. Aha! I knew it! He was starting to sound familiar. That's a Western Kingbird, tyrannus verticalis. Problem solved.

So now do you see what kind and how much info is needed to solve a bird id mystery? Successfully identifying a bird can be pretty challenging, but also really fun. There are just SO many species out there, it really is a complicated process. Especially with some species of birds, such as the Downy and the Hairy woodpeckers. Those two have such slight differences that the can confuse even an experienced birder. Pretty much the only difference is that the Hairy is slightly bigger than the Downy, with a slightly longer beak. Other than that, they look exactly alike. Other birds have look-a-likes, with the only difference being habitat, or song. Of course, there are some that just can't be mistaken for any others, such as the Bald Eagle, the Pileated woodpecker, or the painted bunting. At any rate, I've rambled on far too long. The best of luck to you and your birding!

Answer 3

Goldfinch, yellow warbler, prothonotary warbler.

Answer 4

It may be a baby Cardinal, they look much like the females, brown/green with dark beak. Usually seen close to the parents.

Answer 5

It'll Be A Goldfinch of some Description; Unless its Massive, Then it'll Be something Tropical...

Answer 6

The common myna

Answer 7

Tree creeper

Answer 8

Cindy