I had a very close encounter with an exotic looking bird that I am keen to identify.
It apparently got confused by the glassy frontage of our building at Yonge and Eglinton and flew into our 14th storey unit. We shooed it outside and were surprised to find 24 hours later it was still on our balcony and the adjoining one, making fitful escape attempts that caused it to bounce off the glass balcony railings. One very confused bird with, we feared, a damaged wing.
But what a looker. With a long trim silouette, a pronounced beak and lengthy tail feathers that dovetailed. The most striking characteristic was a ribbon of red/orange (magenta?) across the back of its neck. Its front had three oval "necklaces" ... solid black and solid white rings. There was also a patch of lime/olive about its throat. The rest of the upper body had dappled white streaks on black feathers in a regular pattern. Crown of the head was smooth. Never heard it make a sound. It was quick on its feet.
I have poked around Internet sites and figure it was probably some kind of woodpecker, though most of them seem to look like they just rolled out of bed, plumage wise, whereas my visitor was VERY elegantly turned out for a costume ball.
Happily, after phoning around for a rescue team without any luck, I trapped the bird in a box and lifted it free of the balcony railing ... and it instantly flew off in a straight line to the nearest highrise rooftop, healthy if surely hungry. Its eyesight must be abysmal, because it never figured out to move back far enough from the rail to fly over it.
I'm not a birder, so sorry if my descriptions are awkward. Anyone have any ideas?
