I just saw what looked like a common starling at first, similar colors, but with a very long bill.

[hunter]

Almost twice as long as the other starlings, which already have long bills. I'm in Central Coastal California, and saw the bird in the birdbath with the other starlings, but they were giving him hell, and he was giving it back.

I didn't have my camera or my bird book handy.

Except for that awkwardly long bill, I wouldn't have taken a second look.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. not a grackle?

[hunter]

2. No.

I'm looking on the internet too...

The bird's bill was absurdly long and slightly curved, but otherwise the rest of the bird was very similar in size and shape to the starlings. There's great variation in the coloration of our starlings, maybe all starlings so far as I know, and this guy fit right in. But that bill...

Too long for it to even be at the extreme of common starling variation.

We didn't have starlings in the places I've lived in California until they started showing up where we live now about ten years ago. They seem to have displaced the blackbirds somewhat, but starlings sure do like to eat equally invasive European snails and slugs, which used to be our very worst garden pest. Now we rarely see them.

Maybe this guy was lost and I should look at Asian birds. Or maybe it was just a starling with a stupendously long bill...

[csziggy]

3. How close to the coast are you? How about one of the shorebirds?

I wonder if it could be one of the sandpipers, a whimbrel or a curlew? Whimbrel and curlews have "absurdly long and slightly curved" bills.

But they don't tend to be as dark as starlings.

[cpwm17]

4. It's the wrong color, but California Thrashers have long bills:

http://sdakotabirds.com/species/california_thrasher_info.htm

[XemaSab]

5. You're going to want to sit down for this

but some birds are freaks with really long bills.

http://blog.aba.org/2010/11/the-mystery-of-deformed-beaks.html

[hunter]

6. Sad. Maybe he's a visitor from the toxic Silicon Valley.

Or grew up around the agricultural drainage ditches.

His bill seemed functional, he didn't look in a bad way like the birds pictured in your link.

I'm still looking out for him, keeping my camera handy.

[XemaSab]

7. Pretty much every bird with a bill that long is able to eat

so he might be older than you'd think.