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Two Birds I just can't identify! UK (1 Viewer)

Nothing suggests anything other than robin to me. The angle and the bird's posture are making the throat patch look smaller than it is.
 
No one has mentioned the song. If it was singing and you've seen loads of Robins, it would have been obvious. What was it's song like? Thrushy, Finchy, Buntingy ..........
 
OP describes this bird as bright white, "black as a blackbird", and scarlet. That doesn't sound anything like a robin, even considering the possible effects of lighting, angle, etc. Is the photo really good enough to dismiss her claims out of hand?
 
tril42 said:
OP describes this bird as bright white, "black as a blackbird", and scarlet. That doesn't sound anything like a robin, even considering the possible effects of lighting, angle, etc. Is the photo really good enough to dismiss her claims out of hand?
Click to expand...

Yes, absolutely. It's a robin.
 
Whilst I think it looks like a Robin on 1st impressions, its a bit rude to just keep ignoring the description.
I can see one feature which would be really weird for a robin.... why is extent of the red on the breast greatest in the centre - almost forming a point and less on the breast sides...

The head look a bit small for a Robin too
 

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Jane Turner said:
I can see one feature which would be really weird for a robin.... why is extent of the red on the breast greatest in the centre - almost forming a point and less on the breast sides...
Click to expand...

I'm not sure it is, To me it looks the same as your Robin next to it,I think the twig in front of the bird and the angle of the bird may be giving a false impression of a point in the centre but its actually towards the breast side.
 
Stratton Birder said:
Now shoot me down in flames ;)
Click to expand...

Ah, it's a Phoenix - maybe a bit on the small side but could explain the fiery breast too ...




I've been in the 'mmmm' camp for a while. Whilst there's been a few threads on here with people seeing Dunnocks singing from rooftops/treetops and being totally thrown and confused, I too was thinking the head was small, the distribution of orange a little odd, the shape of the bird odd, but then the tail seems good. Is that the eye we can see, or part of a twig? Escaped cagebird? - don't have a clue if there is anything vaguely resembling this?

I presume that's the only photo?
 
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No it's not!! Shape's wrong, tail's too short - you can even see the thin bill......
It's a bloody Robin!
Dan - I asked my non-birding girlf too - and she said Robin and can't believe this thread is still going on!!
 
Jane Turner said:
[...]
I can see one feature which would be really weird for a robin.... why is extent of the red on the breast greatest in the centre - almost forming a point and less on the breast sides...[...]
Click to expand...
Arrows are showing the median line, Jane:

BTW, your link from post #28 doesn´t work (at least not for me).
 

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The red doesn't come down to a point in the original photo, it's the same shape as on Jane's photo, there is a depression in the feathers there that is in shadow making the red seem to come to a point. It's a robin.

All the things mentioned - small head, extent of white, are just the result of looking at a bird that is almost overhead.
 
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