Hello birders,
Eight days ago in the Cub Run RECenter woods (Fairfax county), I saw something
odd about a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet. I could not see the deformity well, and
forgot about it.
But this morning I found another R-C Kinglet with the exact same appearance in
a park south of San Francisco. (I think this post is at most 50% extralimital,
maybe less!!)
Each bird looked as if it had a third black bill, sticking out at about 45
degrees, above the "real" upper bill. I dismissed the first one assuming it was
just something stuck to the bird's forehead. But this one today forms a pattern
about 2,500 miles across.
Any ideas what I was seeing?
Steve Johnson
usually found roosting in Fairfax, Virginia
