[sendosha]

My neighbor's cat caught a bird. I know that it was a finch and it had a leg band on so it must have been someone's pet at one time. :( I would like help in identifying it's breed. It was mostly olive-green; bright yellow stripe on it's head with 2 black stripes, one on each side of the yellow stripe; horizontal yellow stripe on each wing like where it's shoulders would be if it had shoulders; small dark beak.

[KBC]

While you did not explain where you are in the world,

Here are a few I found:

KISKADEE

STRIPE-HEADED TANAGER

As to the tag on the leg,

Can you retrieve it and send it out to the wildlife rufuge( if that is where it it from)

And was it metal or plastic band? And any printing on it?

Let us know,

Ken

[sendosha]

I don't think it was either of those but thank you anyway. I am in Queens, New York. I live across the street from a cemetery and there are quite a few different bird species living in there along with racoons, skunks and opossums. Some I see more than others.
The bird had a silver, metal band. It said "open" and had an arrow up or down, I forget which way. I felt sorry for it so I buried it in the front yard. Next year it'll have flowers growing over its grave. It was really tiny so I thought it must be a finch. I used to keep zebra finches and it had a similar call to my finches but I think it may have been a little bigger. I never saw a bird like this one before.