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eritrea dec2014 ginda (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Ian Silvester
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Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
That or Swainson's, I'd not like to guess which!
I think Northern Grey headed for the following reasons;
White bib, chestnut on top half of wings, small white wing bar/patch, bill shape is more slender than Swainson's.
But I'm no expert.
White bib, chestnut on top half of wings, small white wing bar/patch, bill shape is more slender than Swainson's.
But I'm no expert.
Tib78
Well-known member
Having had fresh experience with Northern grey-headed in Uganda the first thing that struck me on seeing the pic was the very contrasty plumage of this bird and the grey mantle: unlike any Northern grey-headed seen overthere but seemingly perfect for Swainson's (a species I have no experience of). Northern grey-headed looks to be overall a duller bird with a mantle more or less concolorous with the greater coverts (i.e dull Brown-reddish).
I also noticed some faint white tips to the greater coverts and I have no recollection of this feature on the Ugandan birds, on the other hand this bird Swainson's (along with several other on the web) from Ethiopia apparently show the same white on the inner greater coverts: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Image:Swainson_s_sparrow_-_addis_ababa.jpg
Hence I am inclined to believe this is a Swainson's rather than a Northern grey-headed sparrow.
I also noticed some faint white tips to the greater coverts and I have no recollection of this feature on the Ugandan birds, on the other hand this bird Swainson's (along with several other on the web) from Ethiopia apparently show the same white on the inner greater coverts: http://www.birdforum.net/opus/Image:Swainson_s_sparrow_-_addis_ababa.jpg
Hence I am inclined to believe this is a Swainson's rather than a Northern grey-headed sparrow.
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The whole grey-headed sparrow complex have a lot of similarities. I see what you mean Tibs about the grey mantle and given your vast experience, you would be inclined to agree with you. One thing though, the shoulders/top of the wings looks more like the those of Northern Grey-head as depicted in "Birds of Africa south of the Sahara" by Ian Sinclair and Peter Ryan, my only literature for any north of Southern Africa. To be honest the paleness of the grey and the lightness of the chest looks more like this Southern Grey-headed from Namibia in June last year.
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sicklebill
well-known Cretaceous relic
I seem to recall Swainson's in Addis being quite dark grey below, nothing like as pale as this bird; I'd opt for N Grey-headed if I had to assign it, intrigued to know if any intermediates occur here in one of the possible overlap zones
Valéry Schollaert
Respect animals, don't eat or wear their body or s
Not easy for me neither. Doen't look like Passer griseus ugandae indeed, but I suspect Eritrea birds to be Passer griseus griseus and not P. g. ugandae.
Of the whole complexe, the most similar are griseus and swainsoni.
In most books, they insist on the dusky face of swainsoni, contrasting with whitish belly, something we don't see here. Comparing the bird with Passer griseus griseus on internet, I don't see anything to excludes it.
So to be honest I believe this bird to be Northern Grey-headed Sparrow.
Hope it helps.
Of the whole complexe, the most similar are griseus and swainsoni.
In most books, they insist on the dusky face of swainsoni, contrasting with whitish belly, something we don't see here. Comparing the bird with Passer griseus griseus on internet, I don't see anything to excludes it.
So to be honest I believe this bird to be Northern Grey-headed Sparrow.
Hope it helps.
Tib78
Well-known member
But I think it's quite obvious that the OP image is overexposed (check the part of the rail where the bird is perched!) so I have edited it.
The mantle still looks quite grey and I still have to find a NGHS with tips to the greater coverts. On the other hand the bird is perhaps not quite as plumbeous grey as the Swainson's found online...don't know...
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Valéry Schollaert
Respect animals, don't eat or wear their body or s
I agree on that, but still don't see how to exclude P. g. griseus. Can't exclude P. swainsoni neither with certainty...
Tib78
Well-known member
I am not so sure it's the case Andy. The chin should be the palest part, and if you look at my edited pic, only the edge looks whitish, which can be easily explained by the backlight (just look at the edge of upper breast and you'll see what I mean-this part is still clearly overexposed despite the editing).
One last point: apparently Ginda is in the core range of Swainson's and outside the normally accepted range of NGHS, for what it worth.
Ok, what we can say then is that it is borderline either species, with a geographical tendancy towards Swainsons's?
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