Damned Illegal Aliens!
No, this is not a post about migrant workers.
But, you have to admit, it caught your attention, didn’t it? And, I’ll be honest, I’ve ranted about illegal aliens and off-shoring and all that, especially in the IT industry, before. Interestingly enough, that had an Indian IT worker calling me a racist because I advocated American jobs for American workers. I think I’d be more accurately accused of being a Socialist, or even a Communist with that, but because there were non-Americans involved, somehow, that accuser made the illogical jump to making me a racist. Go figure.
In this case, though, I’m talking about a bird that doesn’t seem like a Texas native bird which showed up in my backyard Thursday. I saw it at lunch and grabbed my camera and zoom lens and snapped this from the back door. Go ahead and click on this picture and it will take you to a bigger version that will let you see the invader more clearly. Well, it may not be an actual alien, since I don’t recognize the bird, but I’m hoping one of my regular readers will be able to tell me what it is. Also, I figure that since we’re in the Gulf Coast, and in the middle of the migratory pattern for quite a few small birds, it’s quite likely this is one of those species that’s just “passing through”.
If no one can tell me what this is, I’ll send it to a friend of mine who works for the Houston Zoo who can probably tell me what it is. Or connect me with someone who can tell me what it is. But, I know that I have genius readers, so I thought I’d get you to tell me first. Besides, my buddy from the Zoo is out of the country at the moment.
So, uh, anyone?
(Also? Don’t forget to vote in the poll!)
I’m thinking some kind of finch or budgie (maybe domesticated that escaped).
I’ll be watching to discover what you find it really is.
Comment by Mark — 3/30/2009 @ 5:57 pm
I’m thinking a finch too. But I just googled yellow finch and they don’t seem to have the black around the eyes like this little bird does. It might be a Lawrence’s Warbler. I’m not a birder but just googled some stuff… because I like yellow birds!
Comment by Alison — 3/30/2009 @ 8:51 pm
Okay, I’ll grant you that a domesticated bird that’s an escape did not occur to me when I wrote this, but that’s entirely possible. There was just something about the pattern around its head and face that seemed very non-native to me. My zoo pal should be back in the country this week, so I’ll try to remember to ask him and, if he identifies it for me, add that into the comments here.
Thanks for playing! 🙂
Comment by the Network Geek — 3/31/2009 @ 9:25 am