Thanks to all who participated in trying to guess the ID of the mystery bird.
http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/myst_bird_2010_9_10
I am pleased to report that about 95 percent of those who replied, identified
it as a melanistic Ovenbird. That is correct. The birds that got the second
highest number of votes were waterthrushes both Louisiana and Northern.
For those who aren't aware, melanism, simply put, is the opposite of albinism
where there is an absence of pigment. Melanistic creatures have an excess of
pigment, as in the Ovenbird. In any case it is the most unusual Ovenbird I have
ever had the opportunity to photograph.
Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt
Buchanan County
