Silly bird mistakes in news stories (etc) (1 Viewer)

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stevethehydra

Well-known member

• Jul 23, 2017

• #1

I was sure there was already a thread here for this sort of thing but couldn't find it... anyway, the story's from last year but I stumbled across it today and couldn't help laughing, both at the idea of a "petrel" station and at the photo the BBC used, which is clearly *not* a petrel but a juvenile large Larus gull (GBB?)...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-37279069

Any other similar silly mistakes in news stories, or elsewhere in "non-birder" media?

 

dantheman

Bah humbug

• Jul 23, 2017

• #2

Interestingly there actually is a 'petrel station' -

https://twitter.com/SkokholmIsland/status/884453195669532672

 

John Cantelo

Well-known member

• Jul 23, 2017

• #3

Not what you mean, I know, but I'd nominate most (if not all) of the pronouncements by Botham's astroturf organisation "You forgot About the Birds", "Songbird Survival", the CA, the "Gift of Grouse" et al.

 

Paul Chapman

Well-known member

• Jul 23, 2017

• #4

It is niggling me. What is the species of gull?

(I am always disappointed when I drive through Swinhoe in Northumberland that there is not a petrol station. I've always wanted to take a picture of a green can next to the roadsign labelled 'Swinhoe's Petrol'.)

All the best

 

Paul Chapman

Well-known member

• Jul 23, 2017

• #5

Just looked it up. The species is named after someone from a Northumberland family (though born in Calcutta). Remarkable coincidence with the Tynemouth records.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Swinhoe

All the best

 

Nutcracker

Stop Brexit!

• Jul 23, 2017

• #6

Paul Chapman said:

It is niggling me. What is the species of gull?

Click to expand...

Every likelihood the pic is from one of the big USA photo libraries - wouldn't be surprised if it was Western or California, or something like that.

Unfortunately, BBC have tied the two pics together, so google image search for the original of the gull doesn't work.

 

Nutcracker

Stop Brexit!

• Jul 23, 2017

• #7

Found it: it's from istockphoto, and is labelled (clearly wrongly!) as a Cape Petrel.

Going to 'same series' shows a set of pics of Kelp Gulls, presumably from South Africa.

Edit: seems istock have some means of stopping links to their pics. Here's the link cut up to stop birdforum auto-linking; copy and paste into browser bar but take the spaces after "www." and ".com" out.

http://www. istockphoto.com /gb/photo/cape-petrel-in-flight-gm585297130-100353081

 

Last edited: Jul 23, 2017

Nutcracker

Stop Brexit!

• Jul 23, 2017

• #8

Paul Chapman said:

Just looked it up. The species is named after someone from a Northumberland family (though born in Calcutta). Remarkable coincidence with the Tynemouth records.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Swinhoe

All the best

Click to expand...

This link corrected, too:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Swinhoe

 

Lerxst

Well-known member

• Dec 19, 2017

• #9

While birding at Xochimilco in Mexico City, our guides told us about how a rare bird was once found and reported on by a local TV station. Someone had found a penguin* there in the marsh! An amazing rarity.






















































* It was a Black-crowned Night-heron

 

S

stevethehydra

Well-known member

• Dec 19, 2017

• #10

LOL! There are occasional tabloid stories about "penguins" seen on British beaches that turn out to be Razorbills or Common Guillemots.