>From: MICHAEL SPEICHER <>
>Sent: Jun 14, 2006 2:43 PM
>To: 
>Subject: [MDOSPREY] Green Flash
>
>In recent days on two occasions in my car’s headlights
>before dawn, i've come upon what appear to be BRIGHT
>green birds in the roadway adjacent to a field (lots
>of fields around).  Yesterday, unfortunately, I
>believe I may have hit one.  When I approached the
>spot in the afternoon, I found what appeared to be an
>Indigo bunting although it was pretty smashed.  Has
>anyone else had the experience of the flash of green
>in the pre-dawn associated with these birds?  At first
>I thought of Ruby-throats, but the evidence of the
>road kill seems to refute that possibility.
>
>Jim Speicher
>jugornought—at—yahoo—dot—com
>Rockville @work :(
>Broad Run_S. FRED Co @home :)
>

To answer your question first- no, I have never seen green pre-dawn birds.  But...

Maybe the reflection from the headlights off of the birds' feathers produces a green color that is only noticeable when the light source (headlights) is in nearly the same place as your eyes.  Grackles, mallards, and starlings seem to change color based on the changing geometry of the light source-bird-observer combination.

That being said, I don't know if Indigo Buntings change apparent colors based on this geometry, but I wouldn't be too surprised.

Monroe Harden
Havre de Grace, MD