Black headed bird?

Question

What kind of bird has a black head and throat, with a white or grey ring around it's neck with a grey chest, body and wings? It's smaller than a robin, but bigger than a sparrow, with a seed eating beak. We've seen it twice here in Charlotte, NC, but even the woman at the bird store can't identify it.

Answer 1

When I read your question, junco and nuthatch came to mind. Both are seed eaters, but the nuthatch beaks is more slender. Both are bigger than some sparrows - I guess this depends on which one you had in mind (Junco is a member of the sparrow family). The nuthatch is also identifiable by watching it walk head-first down a tree.

http://www.oiseaux.net/oiseaux/passeriformes/images/junco.ardoise.relo.2p.jpg
http://www.nawwal.org/~mrgoff/photojournal/2004/winspr/pictures/04-10junco4.jpg
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Djunco%26fr%3Dyfp-t-501%26toggle%3D1%26cop%3Dmss%26ei%3DUTF-8&w=285&h=286&imgurl=www.laspilitas.com%2FCalifornia_birds%2FSparoows_towhees_and_buntings%2FDark-eyed_junco%2Fdark_eyed_junco2.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.laspilitas.com%2FCalifornia_birds%2FSparoows_towhees_and_buntings%2FDark-eyed_junco%2FDark-eyed_junco.htm&size=9.9kB&name=dark_eyed_junco2.jpg&p=junco&type=jpeg&no=14&tt=16,190&oid=202c7566b4f2036a&ei=UTF-8
http://www.richardsnotes.org/pictures/nuthatch.jpg

Here are some other possible winter birds in NC that are seed eaters: http://grd-jerry.home.att.net/birds_jacksonville_nc.html

Could you give more details about habitat, what it was doing, etc?

Answer 2

Sounds a little like an Oregon Junco - which I think would be accidental to your area and not typically found. Hard to be sure without a picture.