A "Snowy Day" post from Amy Winnicki yesterday, where she reported a House Finch with white wing bars, made me sit up and take notice. On Dec. 17, 2007, I noted a bird at my feeders at work that was hanging out with the House Finches and goldfinches. It has two strong white wing bars, and although I never saw its head to confirm the crossed bill, I recorded it as a White-winged Crossbill. I have always doubted that ID, given my office's urban location, but couldn't figure out what else it could be. Based on Amy's observation, I was about to retract that species from my Life List when what should I see this morning at my backyard feeder but a male House Finch with two strong white wing bars! Thanks, Amy, for your note, and for letting me know I'm not the only one with "White-winged House Finches." (Of course, it means I have one less bird on my list, but that's not your fault!) I assume this is a form of leucism, but I find it odd that the wing bars are so uniform. Could any of our experts comment on the prevalence of white marks on HOFI? Thanks, Kathi Hutton Felicity, Clermont County http://katdocsworld.blogspot.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]