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Id Warbler (1 Viewer)

Is it even an Acro?

Each time I open the image I see a Booted Warbler. Pale outer tail feathers and flared supercilium behind the eye seem to point in this direction also.
 
I don't think the number of protruding primaries is ambiguous though. I count 7; 2 tips are hidden. P4 is the longest; P3 falls just short of that; both are emarginated; P3 falls way short of tertialtips; P4 perhaps a bit late. A bit gross estimation of 7/10 th pp compared to tertiallength.
 
It looks like a juv Blyth's IMO, especially with that bronzy shine too the flight feathers edges.

Position of the emargination of P3 is a bit worrying (a bit close to the secondaries tips) but I'd think this would be even more problematical for a Booted. Also I'd expect a darker, more contrasting alula on a Booted. Finally the central pair of the tail feathers appears longer than the one next to it: a further feature favouting an Acro.

I wouldn't mind reading more comments though as the bird is perhaps not the most typical (a bit pale and face pattern not exactly what I would expect too).
 
Brain is correct; the tip of p5 is worst discernible and is left out of my previous count. That implies p3 to be the longest but p2 to fall only just short. In fuscus there is a second emargination to be observed.
So 8 protruding pp instead of 7; p2 very long; and an allowed 2nd emargination. By By BRW
 
Brian J Small said:
I would be in the worn adult fuscus Reed camp

Brian S
Click to expand...

Not really in position to argue against your opinion Brian, but could you be more explicit please...

I find difficult to read the whole wing formula, especially the relative length of the primaries forming the wingtip as expressed by Gerd.
And though I was at first concerned by the postion of the emargination of P3, I found one 1cy Blyth's ringed at Falsterbo that appears very similar in this respect (I had to attach it to my post as somehow it is seemingly impossible for me to provide a direct link to the picture - I will therefore stress that this picture isn't mine but belong to Björn Malmhagen ). Note also the fairly long primary projection of this bird.

Finally regarding age, is this really a worn adult? I may be wrong but I find the primaries tips have relatively well marked whitish tips, likewise the tertials look fairly fresh. Telling the colour of the iris seems very difficult (at least to me).

If this a fuscus Reed would it be a bird from a poupulation somewhere in South-west Asia?
 

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Hi Tib, I just came back home and I came back to my first count of tips: p3 and p4 being the tip of the wing, tip of p2 being concealed. We are back to 7 exposed tips.
 
Tib78 said:
Not really in position to argue against your opinion Brian, but could you be more explicit please...

I find difficult to read the whole wing formula, especially the relative length of the primaries forming the wingtip as expressed by Gerd.
And though I was at first concerned by the postion of the emargination of P3, I found one 1cy Blyth's ringed at Falsterbo that appears very similar in this respect (I had to attach it to my post as somehow it is seemingly impossible for me to provide a direct link to the picture - I will therefore stress that this picture isn't mine but belong to Björn Malmhagen ). Note also the fairly long primary projection of this bird.

Finally regarding age, is this really a worn adult? I may be wrong but I find the primaries tips have relatively well marked whitish tips, likewise the tertials look fairly fresh. Telling the colour of the iris seems very difficult (at least to me).

If this a fuscus Reed would it be a bird from a poupulation somewhere in South-east Asia?
Click to expand...

On what basis was this bird identified as a BRW......?
 
KenM said:
On what basis was this bird identified as a BRW......?
Click to expand...

Well I wasn't there but I guess the ringer knew what he was doing.
Anyway in a Northern european context an Acro with 2 emarginations is normaly a no brainer and the bird just looks bang on for Blyth's. One may wonder about the possiblity of an hybrid but, again, I guess the bird was measured and, presumably, nothing abnormal popped up...
 
Tib78 said:
Well I wasn't there but I guess the ringer knew what he was doing.
Anyway in a Northern european context an Acro with 2 emarginations is normaly a no brainer and the bird just looks bang on for Blyth's. One may wonder about the possiblity of an hybrid but, again, I guess the bird was measured and, presumably, nothing abnormal popped up...
Click to expand...

In a dumetorum context...pp almost equal to overlying tertials...would be somewhat at odds with BRW...mmm.
 
I measured the primary projection quickly with a ruler and ended up with a PP of c.60% which is, I think, OK for Blyth's.

After some research in the OBC database, I found one bird from the Isles of Scilly that appears quite similar (comparable PP and position of emarginations, colour tones): http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=86&Bird_ID=1759&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1
Another bird that bears some similarities to the OP (but with shorter PP): http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=46&Bird_ID=1759&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1

I know really nothing about fuscus Reed or any other population of Reed warbler (such as avicenniae) with P3 and P4 emarginated other than what is written in 'Reed and Bush warblers':
The shorter winged SW Asian breeders reportedly have still shorter second primary (p2) and p4 often emarginated. In Arabia, these birds appear duller olive-Brown and more worn in spring than longer-winged fuscus passage birds, indicating they have an earlier winter moult
Click to expand...


The idea is more to bump this thread up in the hope to generate further comments rather than pushing for Blyth's...
 
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