Please help. No idea what I’ve seen!

Hi Sally, very interesting. This is the second post about a bird with an orange crown, only that was a Great Tit

https://community.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/f/wildlife-questions/204637/has-anyone-ever-seen-a-great-tit-with-an-orange-cap-on-it-s-head/1255402#1255402

Are you in the UK or somewhere overseas. 

First of all it's a juvenile of some sort because in the second photo you can see the yellow flanges at the corner of its beak. My guess is that it's a juvenile House Sparrow but I wouldn't put any money on it.

As you will see from the the other thread there were two theories.

1. The bird has been dipping its head in some pollen rich flowers and coating its forehead and maybe a little on its breast. Do you have any such flowers like New Zealand Flax for example?
2. The bird has a loss of red/chestnut pigment known as erythrism. This was deemed to be the reason in the case of the great Tit.

Those are my thoughts but perhaps others can better suggestions.

Thanks Tony.

We were in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland.

i thought the beak would indicate some sort of finch but I’m very new to bird watching so may be wrong.

We saw this bird eating the plant in the photo but we also saw a small flock of three birds on the rocky shore which were all the same which might contradict the two theories suggested unless the loss of pigment is because they’re family I guess?

Grateful for any more suggestions....

The more photos the better chance there is of getting an ID. To add more photos click on the "Use rich formatting " link below the reply box.

The staining appears a little more widespread than just the crown in these birds ... could they have been bug-hunting in Lily flowers which are notorious for staining pollen?

I think we go with juvenile house sparrows eating something messy!

Thank you for your help.