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Unknown Bird in Algarve Portugal (1 Viewer)

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speedie

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Hi,
I have just got back from Portugal and I am desperate to identify a bird I saw there that I have never seen before.
May be someone on here can help?

Here is a description: small about 10cm (size of a chiffchaff). orangy pink on head & chest, white bib, grey back & wings. Looked like it had a reddish beak & possibly a red eye. Looked finch-like. Habitat; appeared to be building a nest in conifers by the swimming pool of villa which is in rural area of Algarve. Small & Flitty. Habitat: Fruit trees, connifers, rocky soil.

The closest I can get to it in my European bird books is a Penduline Tit, but it looks like it in one book, but not in another. I have a photo but it is long distance, I will try to attach it.
 

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speedie said:
Hi,
I have just got back from Portugal and I am desperate to identify a bird I saw there that I have never seen before.
May be someone on here can help?

Here is a description: small about 10cm (size of a chiffchaff). orangy pink on head & chest, white bib, grey back & wings. Looked like it had a reddish beak & possibly a red eye. Looked finch-like. Habitat; appeared to be building a nest in conifers by the swimming pool of villa which is in rural area of Algarve. Small & Flitty. Habitat: Fruit trees, connifers, rocky soil.

The closest I can get to it in my European bird books is a Penduline Tit, but it looks like it in one book, but not in another. I have a photo but it is long distance, I will try to attach it.
Click to expand...
Could be a waxbill. They have got established down there.
 
It's a Common Waxbill I reckon.
There is a small population in Portugal generally near the coast.
 
Welcome Speedie to Birdforum. :hi:

I agree it is a Common Waxbill, super little birds aren't they!!

We saw flocks of them on a Golf Course in the Algarve last year and I was puzzled as to their ID until I asked a knowledgable Birder at a lagoon we visited.

All the best
 
Thank you all for your help.
My husband did think it might be an escapee from captivity, it did look a little like a Zebra Finch.

If any of you do holiday in the Algarve there is quite a good reserve in Salgaldos (there is a golf club & lovely quiet beach there). There are Flamingoes, Spoonbills, Black-winged Stilts, Purple Gallinules and Marsh Harriers, plus many other water birds and small birds. Worth a look.
 
Hi speedie,

A warm welcome to BirdForum from all the Moderators and Admin.

I see you've got the bird IDed. I have seen these in small numbers in Spain as well.
 
Nice one Speedie - off to the Algarve in a few days and looking forward to seeing some of these....
 
speedie said:
Hi,
I have just got back from Portugal and I am desperate to identify a bird I saw there that I have never seen before.
May be someone on here can help?

Here is a description: small about 10cm (size of a chiffchaff). orangy pink on head & chest, white bib, grey back & wings. Looked like it had a reddish beak & possibly a red eye. Looked finch-like. Habitat; appeared to be building a nest in conifers by the swimming pool of villa which is in rural area of Algarve. Small & Flitty. Habitat: Fruit trees, connifers, rocky soil.

The closest I can get to it in my European bird books is a Penduline Tit, but it looks like it in one book, but not in another. I have a photo but it is long distance, I will try to attach it.
Click to expand...

Hi Speedie
As many of the other good folks have said yes it is a Waxbill - apparently they were first released in Obidos on the West coast of Portugal close to Lisbon. There are a few more exotics that now have small resident localized populations in the Algarve namely Ring necked parakeets on the outskirts of Vilamoura and at Parque Ambiental, Masked Weaver at Lagoa Salgados,Lagoa de San Laurenco on the Quinta do Lago estate and breeding birds on the Parque Ambiental which is very close to Vilamoura.Another exotic that has been recorded recently is the Red Adavaat but as yet I have no further info on its distribution within the Algarve region.
Regards Jack.
 
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