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UK bird ID (1 Viewer)

S

socksitis

Well-known member
Hi, out on the South Devon coast, have seen this bird on two occasions but not too sure for ID, redish breast all the way up, black 'zoro'type face mask with faint white edge to it around the head. Size of the bird? Longer than a robin, not as podgy.
Any ideas, I know it is a usual bird, nothing out of the ordinary, but need a decent picture for recognition please.
 
I'd suggest that you look at Northern Wheatear; Whinchat; Stonechat and possibly Common Redstart, though the last is pretty much an outside candidate on habitat grounds (except during migration). 'Longer than a robin and not as podgy' does sound good for Wheatear though.

Can you remember what the birds you saw were doing? If they were running around on the ground, then Wheatear is likely; perching on bushes or rough vegetation would suggest one of the chats.
 
Thanks for all that, not bullfinch or wheatear. but the picture Alan Seaton looks the bird!
Brown on the back, black face mask, white edge to head.
What is his name??
 
However looking at Opus?? The stonechat as in your picture Alan?? looked too small and more like a redstart, by the stature of what I saw, but I did not notice the white forehead, but the stonechat had in the picture a larger area of white around the head, whereas the redstart had a very thin line of white around the neck?
How does that sound??
More confused? Need another day out perhaps
 
socksitis said:
However looking at Opus?? The stonechat as in your picture Alan?? looked too small and more like a redstart, by the stature of what I saw, but I did not notice the white forehead, but the stonechat had in the picture a larger area of white around the head, whereas the redstart had a very thin line of white around the neck?
How does that sound??
More confused? Need another day out perhaps
Click to expand...

The amount of white on the neck of a stonechat is very variable between individuals and it can even seem to change in the same bird from moment to moment depending on the bird's posture at any given time.

I've attached another picture of a male stonechat below, and a drawing I did some time ago of another.

Regarding redstarts, at this time of year they don't show as much black on the face as in the illustrations in many books. I've attached a photo of an October redstart from a couple of years ago to illustrate this.
 

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    Stonechat 10 copy.jpg
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  • Redstart 05 copy.jpg
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  • Stonechat pastel.jpg
    Stonechat pastel.jpg
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