Verdins & other small gray birds

Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps)

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The three images above show a single adult female Verdin, fluffed up on a cold morning in November 2006. (Click on each image to enlarge it.) The central photo shows the diagnostic features of this small (4.5" long), chickadee-like, very active bird, which was accompanied by a male consort. The gray body, yellow face (an almost fully yellow head on the male), sharp-pointed bill, and rufous shoulder marking (barely visible here in shadow in the central picture, looking triangular and located just below the yellow chin) distinguish this bird from all others.

In these two images below, a male verdin, perched in a Catsclaw Acacia bush in Lower Hot Springs Canyon on May 20th, 2008, shows the rufous shoulder mark much more clearly. (Click on each image to enlarge it.)

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