This video was taken by Jennie (Veery) and we are unsure of what it is. Unfortunately, Google messed up the footage a bit, but the sound is there. Let us know what you think! (Video taken in northern Illinois, April 5th)
UPDATE: The video is not the greatest quality, but the song playing at the very beginning is coming from the bird. We made a still shot from the video to show a better view. We think it is a Rusty Blackbird (based mostly on sound) but there has been some debate so we are unsure.
I do not know what bird it is for certain. My guess would be a robin that is not brightly colored.
Jack
Rusty Blackbird.
Despite poor light conditions, this bird appears to have lighter underparts. Bill seems a bit too thick for kingbird or blackbird. Based on proportions and shape of bill I’d also guess Robin in the early stages of building its nest. Robins also have that habit of dropping with partially closed wings. Good puzzle!
This fits the description of a Northern Mockingbird almost perfectly. My guess is this is an April Fool’s joke.
Thanks for all the IDs… This wasn’t a joke or even a contest; we still don’t know 100% the ID of this bird but it brings up the point that even a photograph can’t always show exactly what a bird is.