Darius, I, too, was surprised when I saw the black on this bird's throat. (I found it about 10:15 last Sunday.) There were black specks all the way along the upper edge of the yellow and they coagulated into a distinct black spot at the center of the throat (left to right, not up/down). I finally made the time to check Pyle's book and, IF I understand what he says, any black on the throat implies that this bird is a male. Dave Seabrook, MD USA dm@fornax.usno.navy.mil P.S. Even though e-mail travels rapidly, there is no guarantee that it gets sent, read or processed in such a timely manner. On Tue, 14 Dec 1999, Darius Ecker wrote: > For those interested, the Dickcissel was seen Monday morning, September > 13 at 8:15 AM in a small tree embedded in a multiflora rose at the > lakes's edge behind the Townhouses next to the dam at Lake Elkhorn. The > bird is still with a large group of Weaver Finches. I got to watch it at > close range (15 feet) for five minutes, before it dropped down below the > bank into the brambles and dissappeared. This was a tough bird for me to > see, and I put in well over fours hours of trying before finally seeing > it. > > It was worth the wait. But I thought I could see black at the base of > the feathers in the throat, and a fairly pronounced chestnut patch on > the wing. The yellow on the breast was also more extensive than I was > expecting for a female. Could this bird be a male Dickcissel in winter > plumage instead of a female ? Can the female show traces of black at the > throat ? > > Darius Ecker (eckerd@prodigy.net) > > Columbia, Maryland. > >