This guy just showed up on our back porch this morning hanging out with a bunch of sparrows. The closest I can get is maybe a intermediate between a yellow warbler and a mangrove warbler. The Mangrove is a subspecies of the Yellow Warbler, so I assume that being somewhere in between isn't unusual. The yellow has a plain yellow head, the Mangrove has a full reddish brown hood. This guy has some orangeish red on top of the head and just above the beak that doesn't show up on anything else that looks close.

That would be my guess.

Try to lure it in with a piece of bread...

Look up female summer tanager and see if that jives......

Beak is wrong for summer tanager. Has smaller black beak, and has more bright yellow than the female tanager. Western tanager would be really close, but the wings on our bird are drab olive instead of black with bars.

Aggies Revenge said:

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Try to lure it in with a piece of bread...

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A little bird...

What size is the bird? Similar to the sparrows or larger? Warblers are similar to sparrows in size, pretty small. To me the beak seems a bit thick for a warbler, but it's hard to really tell from the pics. The color is in line with a Yellow Warbler, except for the hint of orange/red. It could also be a juvenile, immature, or female Tanager species, especially if larger in size compared to the sparrows, although the mostly solid yellow color doesn't exactly fit as you mentioned.
You could try posting pics with an ID question on a couple of Facebook groups, like Birds of Texas or Texbirds. Lots of really knowledgeable birders there. You might have to wait a bit to be approved first, though. Or if you want, maybe I could try posting them on your behalf.

The conical bill and yellow-green color might indicate an immature painted bunting. The buntings should be migrating south to winter in Mexico.

It is sparrow sized and was hanging out with a flock of sparrows on our back porch. The little bush it is sitting in is a Satsuma Orange in a container. It is stripping seeds off of the grasses growing in the container with the orange tree. To me that would argue against a warbler, so they would typically be insect eaters.

Where are you located?

Based on it eating seeds, I think painted bunting. Warblers are bug eaters like you said.

West side of Houston northwest of Addicks reservoir.

If it is a painted bunting, it would like bird seed that contains white millet.

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Beak is wrong for summer tanager. Has smaller black beak, and has more bright yellow than the female tanager. Western tanager would be really close, but the wings on our bird are drab olive instead of black with bars.

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It's definitely a female tanager, most likely summer. You have to remember a few things about bird ID in general and tanagers specifically. First, there are a lot of juveniles about this time of year, so beak shape and specific coloration is not definitive. Second, There is always normal variation in birds like tanagers. Beaks can be slightly different shapes and colors. Feather coloration can vary. Third, tanagers will molt and change coloration as the seasons transition.

There are many things that point to it being a summer tanager and even more things that rule out other birds like a bunting. Almost certainly a juvenile.

Damn birders

BCO07 said:

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Aggies Revenge said:

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Try to lure it in with a piece of bread...

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A little bird...

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OMG

I LOL'ed so hard. I loved this one.

But try the window sill before the toilet seat. Of course, I think crackers would work better.

ursusguy said:

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Damn birders

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Yeah, I know. You can swing a dead catbird around your head* these days and not hit a birder in the face.

But -- at least we contribute billions of dollars to the American economy, so there's that......


*a birder joke

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But -- at least we contribute billions of dollars to the American economy, so there's that......

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That ain't no lie. Tens of thousands of international birders fly to the US each years. Gods knows how many birders in the US. Flights. Hotels. Birding tours. Pelagic boating trips. Equipment purchases like binoculars, monoculars, cameras, lenses, etc. Events like Galveston's Featherfest in April. Donations to birding organizations.

I wonder just what the monetary total is?

I just can't see a tanager migrating with a flock of sparrows and eating seeds.

I clearly remember knowing exactly what Jody call was up next it was Mr Fishin Texas Aggie 05's turn

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I just can't see a tanager migrating with a flock of sparrows and eating seeds.

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Migrating....yes.

With the sparrows.....no. Probably house sparrows on a feeder in Houston and they don't migrate.
While tanagers mainly eat bugs, hungry tanagers will eat seed, fruit, etc. I've seen tanagers in High Island after their trip over the gulf in the Spring, land on a Mulberry bush and eat so many Mulberries their faces are stained purple.

Birds get blown all over by hurricane or high winds. There's a roseate spoonbill on the Gleannloch golf course right now, a bird that hardly ever leaves the coast. The east coast occasional sees European migratory birds. The west coast, Siberian birds.

She just got lost and is finding food wherever she can.

I was leaning towards a tanager, based mostly on body/beak shape, but I'm not an expert on ID. They can be quite variable in coloration, especially until they become adults. I am more into just photographing them than the ID aspect, but it is nice to know what I'm shooting.

Aggiedent, are you a birder? You seem to have at least decent knowledge on the subject, and your mention of High Island and pelagics indicates some advanced interest. Just curious.

aggiedent said:

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I just can't see a tanager migrating with a flock of sparrows and eating seeds.

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Migrating....yes.

With the sparrows.....no. Probably house sparrows on a feeder in Houston and they don't migrate.
While tanagers mainly eat bugs, hungry tanagers will eat seed, fruit, etc. I've seen tanagers in High Island after their trip over the gulf in the Spring, land on a Mulberry bush and eat so many Mulberries their faces are stained purple.

Birds get blown all over by hurricane or high winds. There's a roseate spoonbill on the Gleannloch golf course right now, a bird that hardly ever leaves the coast. The east coast occasional sees European migratory birds. The west coast, Siberian birds.

She just got lost and is finding food wherever she can.

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There are roseate spoonbills in the Addicks reservoir off of hwy 6 on a not infrequent basis. Could be one of those birds over on the Gleannloch course. Something arguing for the possibility of a tanager is that it was sitting in a Satsuma Orange tree with a few ripening fruit that might have drawn its attention, and about 15 feet away there are two pomegranate trees with plenty of ripe and overripe fruit on them. Oh, and the back fence is covered with pepper vine with ripe berries on it.

My dad, an oil guy by trade, was an avid outdoorsman with 2 great interests. Birding and fishing. He was an outstanding amateur ornithologist. So I grew up knowing my birds very well. While I'm interested in birds, I never quite had my dad's enthusiasm for it. Ironically, my wife became the executive director for Houston Audubon for 5 years. For her work, I've spent many weekends at High Island, Bolivar, Featherfest, and even out of state places like Bosque del Apache. I've got to hang out with ornithologists like Victor Emanuel and meet some of the great professional wildlife photographers in Texas. I'm an avid amateur wildlife photographer myself who has had the pleasure of traveling to places like Alaska, Tanzania, and South America. Bird photography, especially in-flight photography, can be a real challenge and I enjoy that challenge.

tanager

Sounds like we have a lot in common. Growing up, my dad was in the dairy business. We didn't have a lot of money or time to take extended trips and such, and I amused myself mostly with hiking our property and observing the wildlife that shared it with us. When I got older, I took that appreciation for wildlife with me and turned it into photography as a hobby when I finally achieved some disposable income. There is great satisfaction in getting those nice in-flight shots.
I enjoy going to the various hotspots along the coast, such as Anahuac NWR, High Island, Lafitte's Cove, Port Aransas, and S. Padre, but it can be difficult at times living in B/CS. I appreciate all the work your wife must have done while in the local Audubon chapter.
Funny you mention Bosque del Apache. I was just recently thinking about going back this winter, since I haven't been in several years. It's kind of a fun side distraction watching Arthur Morris and his entourage bustling about trying to get that perfect shot!

Birders have always been an interesting crowd for me. I am a wildlife biologist, but distinctly a mammals person. Yet get drug (willingly....except those damn cattle egrets) bird issues, and speak on assorted bird conservation issues quite a bit and sit on several bird conservation related committees....but don't ask me to id some LGB. Main reason I passed ornithology is I can write habitat management plans in my sleep.

Nothing like trying to get somewhere with a vehicle full of birders, and someone yells out that they might have spotted some lifer. Binos, cameras and me twiddling my fingers for 20 minutes. ;-)

But, when I need help for _____ conservation effort, birders are often my first stop.

BuddysBud said:

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If it is a painted bunting, it would like bird seed that contains white millet.

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On our county road, if you want to see a painted bunting you just watch the raccoon scat in the road. Whatever it is they love it. We have several painted buntings with a territory along the stretch or our county road and that is where you can see them with regularity.

ursusguy said:

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Birders have always been an interesting crowd for me. I am a wildlife biologist, but distinctly a mammals person. Yet get drug (willingly....except those damn cattle egrets) bird issues, and speak on assorted bird conservation issues quite a bit and sit on several bird conservation related committees....but don't ask me to id some LGB. Main reason I passed ornithology is I can write habitat management plans in my sleep.

Nothing like trying to get somewhere with a vehicle full of birders, and someone yells out that they might have spotted some lifer. Binos, cameras and me twiddling my fingers for 20 minutes. ;-)

But, when I need help for _____ conservation effort, birders are often my first stop.

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So do I fall into the category of a "birder?" Because I spend a lot of time, money, and travel with my dogs a lot to find new species. It can be difficult to locate (although the dogs help) then I have only a split second to identify the species, and sometimes the sex, before I "catalog" them.

To the OP, I think it is a Yellow Warbler and not Mangrove. If you google images and look at all of the images, there are a few of them with a reddish orange tint similar to your yard bird. Although yours seems to have slightly more red than most of those images, it is still a lot closer than the Mangrove Warbler with nearly the entire head colored brown.

Painted Bunting.......for sure

Not a warbler, yellow, or other. The body-head proportion is all wrong. In the OP's picture, see how the bird has a neck, how it tapers in from the head before reaching the body. Yellow warbler's heads seem to sit right on the body without a neck. Coloring is off. Plus yellow warblers will look smaller and more delicate than house sparrows. And a couple other issues.