[mou] Unknown Bird

[jjportz@mmm.com]

I saw an unusual bird this week.  Could you help me identify the it?  It
was gray in color.  Initially as it flew into my yard I thought it was a
robin but it was smaller.  As it turned I saw it had a gray breast.  What
was most unusual was the birds behavior.  It would fly, stop in mid-air
like a hummingbird for about 5 seconds and then it would fly again.  It
stayed a few feet off the ground landing on the cross member of a swing set
and landing in the lower branches of a small tree.  It did this several
times so I had time to ask to ask my wife and kids to come watch the bird.
They initially thought the bird was a hummingbird but it was too large and
was so plain in color that we concluded it was not a hummingbird.

Thanks for any help you can provide.


John J. Portz