Birds Wearing Masks

Gambel’s quail pair (photo from Wikimedia) 29 October 2026 With Halloween around the corner, some birds are already wearing masks even though they don’t have “masked” in their names. The male Gambel’s quail (Callipepla gambelii) has fancy white edges on his mask. Green jay (Cyanocorax luxuosus) wears overlapping masks, blue + black. European goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) wears a black eye-mask (a domino) on top of a red mask. Green Jay in Texas (photo from Wikimedia) European goldfinch (photo from Wikimedia) The domino or Lone Ranger mask is a popular choice for quite a few birds including … Cedar waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) Kentucky warbler (Geothlypis formosa) Common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas). Cedar waxwing adult (photo by Cris Hamilton) Kentucky warbler (photo by Tony Bruno) Common yellowthroat (photo by Steve Gosser) p.s. Did you notice that the Kentucky warbler and the yellowthroat are in the same genus, Geothlypis? According to Wikipedia: The genus name Geothlypis…