Bunting in Cambridgeshire, UK (1 Viewer)

Tanager · Apr 17, 2004

Hi all,

First time posting photos so hope this works!

Any thoughts on this bunting that I photographed a couple of days ago. Is it just a pale Reed Bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)? When I found it I was struck overall by how pale it was with the exception of the crown which almost appeared to glow in comparison.

Photo taken with Coolpix 990 and Swarovski scope

Any thoughts..........

Many thanks,

Mark

Jane Turner · Apr 17, 2004

eek. Looks extremely rare.. Off to check up what washed out Reed Bunt might look like.. but my first reaction was a US Sparrow!

Andrew S · Apr 17, 2004

Was it taken in East Yorks?

Edit: think I may not have paid due attention to the header here!

Jane Turner · Apr 17, 2004

I'm still thinking its a US sparrow... Is that tail really square and I can't see any white outers. Even if you took the balck pigements out of a Reed Bunt, how would it get those long flank streaks.

Any more pics, calls etc

Tanager · Apr 17, 2004

Andrew S said:
Was it taken in East Yorks?

No taken in Cambridgeshire where I work. Used to live in East Yorks but now in North Yorks

Tanager · Apr 17, 2004

Jane Turner said:
I'm still thinking its a US sparrow... Is that tail really square and I can't see any white outers. Even if you took the balck pigements out of a Reed Bunt, how would it get those long flank streaks.

Any more pics, calls etc

Hi Jane,

No sorry these are the only two photos I took (and a miracle they are in focus) and I only saw it long enough to get these two shots off. It was seen in the same habitat that you would expect to see Reed Buntings it.

Jane Turner · Apr 17, 2004

Bill looks quite buntingy though.. sorry I'm thinking out loud - but isn't it a bit too "flat" from a reed - looks more like a Little bunt bill, though clearly it isn't a Little bunt.

Andrew S · Apr 17, 2004

There is a Reed Bunting picture in the concise Birds of the Western Palearctic described as "variant with pale crown" which looks fairly similar.

Tanager · Apr 17, 2004

Jane Turner said:
Bill looks quite buntingy though.. sorry I'm thinking out loud - but isn't it a bit to "flat" from a reed - looks more like a Little bunt bill, though clearly it isn't a Little bunt.

Jane:

I thought at the time that the bill looked quite small.

Jane Turner · Apr 17, 2004

It is.. I know its subtle but look at these comparison pics culled from the gallery

Tanager · Apr 17, 2004

Andrew S said:
There is a Reed Bunting picture in the concise Birds of the Western Palearctic described as "variant with pale crown" which looks fairly similar.

Thanks for that Andrew,

Yep saw that picture last night when I got home. I wasn't happy with how pale the body was on my bird though in relation to the head. But I do agree that pic in Birds of the Western Palearctic is the closest pic in any guide that I have seen.

Jane Turner · Apr 17, 2004

There is something a bit non reed bunting about the sharpness of the crown stripe and super ahead of the bill too - compare again to the female reed bunts above

Jane Turner · Apr 17, 2004

Just a thought.. I was called out to a mystery bunting a couple of years back that turned out to be an escaped Caribbean Sparrow - Rufous Collared I think, I wonder if there are any more it could be. It sort of reminds me of a small-billed Song Sparrow - but I think its just the warm flank streaking that is making that happen for me.

Still think that tail is square.... though it also appears damaged.

Jane Turner · Apr 17, 2004

Come on.. I need some help here. Here are a couple of Sparrows - Song and Savannah - Its not either of those unless there is a race of Song I don't know about, but you can see some similarities............

mountain man · Apr 17, 2004

I don't know what it is. However I'm pretty sure it has never been recorded in Britain before.

Aside from escapes & firsts only possibles I can suggest is maybe weird Pine Bunting or Meadow Bunting. But neither seem particularly correct.

Jane Turner · Apr 17, 2004

If you stand back from it and ignore the colour it does look quite like Reed Bunt.. but as I said.. the bill does look a little short and less convex and those flank stripes seem long and well defined (and rufous)... Wish there was a better pic of its back and tail

Off to check Sibe Meadow bunting.. can't remember what they look like!

Nah..basically a Rock bunting type

http://www.penart.co.kr/homego/creative/image/bird/063.jpg

Jane Turner · Apr 17, 2004

How apart a partially leucistic small-billed fem Yellow-browed bunting in tail moult...... ok I'm getting desperate.

Charles Harper · Apr 17, 2004

American Tree Sparrow. Rufous crown, rufous postocular, yellow lower mandible. Congratulations.

(Well, breast is a little anomalously streaky, and can't see the central spot-- though it is a bit fluffed.)

My best guess, anyway-- Looks nothing like any of the three reed buntings we get here, with their long tails and streamlined heads. Can't imagine why you think it is one.

Warbler · Apr 17, 2004

Very intersting sparrow. No, it's not an Am. Tree Sparrow. They don't have those streaks and the belly color is wrong, too.

Lancey · Apr 17, 2004

My Suggestions

A most interesting looking bird. At first sight my pulse started to race. Before fuelling the car I have looked at the Internet for a photo-fit and having drawn a blank I've come up with two ideas of my own ( fortunately neither can be easily proven or disproven which is always useful in cases like this):

1) It is a colour variant and is a female Reed Bunting with aberrant rufous tones. Doesn't explain the neat flank streaking though. Is it my imagination, or does this bird look rather sorry for itself? Maybe if it was unwell, then it would look a bit 'off colour'(!) - remember the Scilly 'Spotless Starling' for instance?

OR:

2) I'm left with the hybrid theory - what about a possible Rustic x Reed Bunting hybrid? After all, there have been several incidences of Rustic Buntings wintering in flocks of Reed Buntings so it is not unreasonable for the two to come into contact. Presumably they not only winter together but summer together too, hence the possibility of a hybrid. Yellowhammer and Pine Bunting hybridise freely and a female Pine Bunting hybrid would be a real identification headache - just like this bird!

Whatever it is, I just don't feel that the BOURC need to be informed just yet. Mind you, if I'd seen it, I'd have been in a panic to get a photo of it without a doubt.

Feel free to shoot me down in flames and tell me it's a new British bird -PLEASE.

Lancey

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