"Pat Kiewicz" wrote in message
...
OhioGuy said:


An unusual looking bird was outside about half an hour ago, eating the
cat
food that I put out by a raised bed near our North Star cherry tree. I've
never seen one of these before here in SW Ohio, so I thought I would post
a
picture to see if anyone else recognizes it.

At first I thought it was a grey jay, then I thought perhaps a
kingfisher,
but neither of those lives around here. Then I thought perhaps a northern
raven, but those are usually darker, much larger, and don't have the grey
slash on the side. After looking at the photos, I realized that what I
had
thought was a crest was actually a humpback of some kind. It is one of
the
wierder looking birds I've seen around here.

It is grey in color, roughly 11-13" long including the tail, and has a
white or light grey mark at the top of the wing. It also has what I would
describe as a huge hump, with the head down below. Head itself is a
darker
black color.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5789/mysterybird.jpg


Young grackle with warble fly larva in its neck, maybe.

In any case, I think that's a young grackle with a problem/deformity.



Looks like a young cowbird.
http://www.birdzilla.com/images/stor...wbird-m450.jpg

Or: http://hca.gilead.org.il/ugly_duc.html