Mystery Bird - Mississauga

[Bird Brain]

Hi everyone.  Here goes ...

1. Date: Thursday, May 30th, 2019

2.Time:  12:40pm

3.Location: bus stop on North side of Rathburn Rd. across the street from the bus terminal at Square One Shopping Centre.  Playdium is behind the bus stop.

4.Person that sighted the bird:  My mom, a non-birder.

5.Here's what she said to me:

"I saw an unusual Sparrow today.  Looked like a Sparrow, the size, brown colouring and stripes BUT ...

Bright moss green head cap and rump, light green or possibly green-yellow on cheeks."  She didn't notice the belly but doesn't think it was white.  The bird then flew to a nearby tree but my mom's bus was pulling up and she didn't have her camera on her.  Apparently the bird was about 3 feet in front of her.  She initially thought the bird had a leaf on it's head due to the colour but it wasn't a leaf.

Me: "Green? ... No idea".

Anyhow ... I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions on this one!  I've looked through my field guides and various photos on Google and nothing is matching.

[Shortsighted]

What's your mom taking? Green sparrows ... really?
Sounds like fun. I'll take some of what she's taking.
If it is the size of a sparrow then it is likely a sparrow, or a finch.
Non-birders often really don't know how big a sparrow is. They
mostly see House sparrows, which are really old-world weaver finch.
A female American Goldfinch can appear greenish yellow and it is slightly
smaller than the bright yellow male Goldfinch. I would say that guess is
my two cents worth on this query except we no longer have cents in this
country and are rapidly becoming scarce on the other sense ... common sense that is.

[Bird Brain]

What's your mom taking?

Perhaps too much coffee/caffeine?   :lol:  :shock:

I was also thinking either some sort of sparrow or finch and even questioned if it could be some sort of escapee from a pet store or a person's pet bird based on the green colour?  

Hopefully my mom will see the bird again, have her camera onhand and get a photo!  Perhaps I should go check out the area where the bird was sighted and see for myself what it actually is!

[Bird Brain]

rapidly becoming scarce on the other sense ... common sense that is.

That's for sure!  A major lack of good customer service anywhere as well.  

[Rotarran]

Keep in mind this is the time when we start to see the first fledglings and such.  Many look quite different than their juvenile or adult form.  Although I'm not sure it would explain what your mom saw, but it's something to think about nonetheless.

[Bird Brain]

Keep in mind this is the time when we start to see the first fledglings and such.  Many look quite different than their juvenile or adult form.  Although I'm not sure it would explain what your mom saw, but it's something to think about nonetheless.

Thank You.  It's also been suggested to me that the bird has found some sort of interesting/unusual food source to bring out that green colour - perhaps one of the restaurants on North side of Rathburn Rd. or over at Square One?   :lol:   :wink:

A birding friend from Alberta (and he's been birding for a very long time) suggested a Black-throated Green Warbler - he also said a photo would help.  

[Bird Brain]

Hi everyone.  An update!

They are male and female Black-throated Green Warblers.  Woo Hoo!