Bird ID help please!

[RainyEye]

This bird has been hanging around for awhile and I cannot make a positive ID. I have never seen one around before! I think it may be some kind of Thrush. It doesn't feed from the feeder, it's a ground feeder. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

[jentz]

Looks like a robin,just a bad gene somewhere or maybe its a good gene??

[MN Shutterbug]

Robin would be my guess too - maybe a real young one. Robins are members of the thrush family.

[Steve Foss]

It's a fox sparrow. Common spring and fall migrant in Minnesota. Gorgeous bird. Easily one of my favorite sparrow species.

[grey ghost]

+1 for the Fox Sparrow

[MN Shutterbug]

The brown markings should have been a dead giveaway. It just looks larger in this photo for some strange reason. This is what happens when I make a hurried wild guess. They're not very common around here. The only photo I have of one was taken mid April a couple years ago. It might have been an early migrant.

[RainyEye]

Steve, I think you're right, just checked my bird book again and it fits. I didn't know a fox sparrow was a 7 inch bird; now it makes sense. It's nice to have them hang around. Thanks!

[Steve Foss]

Steve, I think you're right,

I know I'm right on this one.

[mixxedbagg]

Let's go one level further...Passerella iliaca iliaca

That's the RED Fox Sparrow. It's the subspecies that migrates through Minnesota. There are 3 other subspecies that can be seen in the US.

[Gillie]

So fun to watch! Had a bunch of them under my feeder with the junco's all week. Watching them feed is hilarious!

[RainyEye]

Thanks again, guys, for the positive ID's, they are really fun to watch as they hop around for quite awhile under my feeder.

[Steve Foss]

I like the hop-kick-and-scrape method they use to clear leaves from the lawn/forest floor.