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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Pratincole (1 Viewer)

Whitethroat said:
The tail is definitly shorter than the primaries. So it is probably a Black-winged Pratincole.

Eckart
I disagree.
The tails are prone to wear and judging their length on a single bird is fraught with danger.
Looking at the rest of the birds on Eckart's gallery, I would say the bird in question is the same species - Collared Prat'.
 
I can't actually see any evidence for the tail feathers being worn on this bird but the amount of red on the bill and the restricted blackish on the lores and forehead area are good pointers towards Collared. The only thing for an ID as Black-winged is that it looks a rather dark bird generally, which might not be a true impression.
I have to agree with CJW and call it a Collared.

Steve
 
also note the eye-ring:
adult black-winged shows less white in the lower half, usually restricted to its rear two-thirds.
Great photos in your gallery!
 
After a closer look into my bird ID guide I changed my mind. In spite of the short tail it's not a Black-winged Prat'. The red on the bill reaches the nostrils, which is good pointer to Collared Prat as already stated by Steve and Jan.

Concerning Oriental Pratincole: I find it even harder to tell a Collared from a Oriental than from a Black-winged. The tail of a Oriental should be even shorter. Does the Oriental Pratincole occur in Dubai anyway?

Eckart
 
Thanks guys.....collared it is then.

Whitethroat........we think oriental does occur but as you'd imagine it may be overlooked.
 
Hi Gashead,

nice to meet you from Dubai. My neighbours are telling me that I should spend a holiday in Dubai. They visit Dubai regularly (the man is a pilot, they always get a cheap flight) but they are not interested in birding. Are there any good places where I can watch birds?
My wife also wants to go to Dubai. I'am afraid she will spend more time at the jeweller's shops than at the birding sites with me. It's going to be a very expensive journey.

Is Dubai worth a birding trip?

Regards, Eckart
 
Hi Gashead

Changing tact, in April 1998 I was at Sharjah Airport, a flock of 5 birds alighted on fence briefly - looked like Pratincoles but frustratingly I just could not get any views.

I was just passing through on a fuel stop and am not familiar with birds of that region. I just remember the staring faces of these birds that were almost Nightjarish in the way they looked.

I know its back to basics, but just wondered, with your probable knowledge of birds in the Dubai region and around the barren scrubby desert of Sharjah, what birds these could possibly have been - the fact they were in a group, the fact they alighted briefly on a fence etc.

maybe they are common Sharjah birds, I just do not know. Any suggestion would be speculative I realise but interesting.
 
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