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ID Please UK Central (1 Viewer)

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celiaday

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ID Please UK Central New Member

I am sorry I haven't a photo. I saw this bird today,
quite a bit bigger than a blackbird
Beak dark about 12mm
wide tail with 2 white feathers on each side
colour brownish black all over except for these long white feathers either side of tail. Dull not shiny.
It was hopping about between the plants at a garden centre between Wolverhampton and Kidderminster.
I can't find it in my books. I hope someone can help. Thanks
Celia
 
Last edited:
NaturePete said:
I can't think... unless it was one of these?
Click to expand...

('Twould be nice. Maybe he works there planting acorns and the like.)

Hi Celia, welcome to birdforum!
I'm afraid I might not be much help here either. Did it seem wild? Maybe it could have been an escapee from someone's collection? If it was a 'non-native' I guess there are many things it could have been. Good luck with better answers!
 
Hello Celia,

I have some questions.

Could you suggest how much bigger/longer it was than a blackbird ?

What sort of shape was it ?

When you say brownish black was it more brown coloured or black coloured ?

Finally, how familiar are you with other "common" birds (just so I don't come up with too obvious an answer) ?

I have a few suggestions but none really fit like Collared Dove (colour off and doesn't hop), Gr. Spotted Woodpecker (unlikely behaviour ?), Fieldfare or Mistle Thrush in dark light (but tail doesn't match) Hmm... a tricky one.

Nutcracker does fit but *extremely* unlikely.

Tim
 
NaturePete said:
What about moorhen?

[edit]Just noticed you got a good look at the beak[/edit]
Click to expand...

I thought of moorhen briefly (too briefly?) but discarded it. However bill colour can vary, especially when rootling around in the soil. Hopping though? More padding/ running I would have thought. . .
 
Thank you all for the suggestions

Thanks everyone. I wish i had got a look at it's tummy.
It was very tame. We were inches away from it and it didn't fly off but hopped under the plants when i moved in a bit too close.
It was blackbird like but a third as big again.
I do know what magpies are like and it definitely wasn't one of those.
I wondered about a big female blackbird with albanistic feathers. The white feathers were just on the outside of the tail 2/3 each side very straight, about 3 inches long and one broken on the left.
It wasn't a moorhen.
I don't know about black wheatear. I have looked it up on google images and it is possible but definitely no white on head. Since i didnt see the tail open I don't know if it had any white underneath which i think it would need to be a wheatear but it certainly didnt look as though it had.
I have looked in a readers digest british bird book and the rspb book and there isn't anything like it in either of them.
I don't know. A tame escapee or an unusually large weird female Blackbird best so far.

Celia
 
Thanks Pete

No it wasnt one of those. Not spotty at all, rather dull plumage.
Nice to find westmidland bird club site. I will have a good look at it.
Celia
 
I think it's a blackbird

I rang the nursery in the end and the lady said she thought it was a female blackbird and it has been there a long while. They have a visiting bird man and he is going to ring me. I really thought it was too big for a blackbird but what do i know.
I will post again when he has rung me; may be a few days. Thank you everyone for your interest. It has been great fun joining this site and everyone is very nice.
Celia
 
albinism can make birds look slightly larger than usual, especially when observed on their own. The broken feather may indicate an attack from a predator, a posibility considering the tameness of the bird!
 
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