whitethroats and lesser whitethroats (1 Viewer)

M

Merman

Well-known member

• Sep 17, 2006

• #1

which ones have white outer tail feathers?

on 'my local patch' where i go dogwalking i see a lot of whitethroats, at least thats what i think they are. i have a bad photo of one if you want to see it. there are quite a few, but some seem to have white outer tail feathers and some dont. some seem to have a more grey back than others too. am i seeing a mix of lesser and normal whitethroats? or could the birds be something else?

they are always in the same area, in amongst an area of bushes next to a railway line.

 

Mike Pennington

Registered Member

• Sep 17, 2006

• #2

Merman said:

which ones have white outer tail feathers?

on 'my local patch' where i go dogwalking i see a lot of whitethroats, at least thats what i think they are. i have a bad photo of one if you want to see it. there are quite a few, but some seem to have white outer tail feathers and some dont. some seem to have a more grey back than others too. am i seeing a mix of lesser and normal whitethroats? or could the birds be something else?

they are always in the same area, in amongst an area of bushes next to a railway line.

Click to expand...

Both have white outer tail feathers, but the obviousness varies according to how they hold the tail.

Common Whitethroats are probably more likely in most areas. Commoner, more widespread and more obvious.

Post the photo. You'd be amazed how good some people are at ID ing something from a poor photo (or how many different species you have suggested!).

 

Mickymouse

Ubuntu Linux user

• Sep 17, 2006

• #3

Go on post the photo. From the point of view of some one trying to learn, reading threads where people are trying to ID something from a photo is amazingly educational and fun, bad photos are even better in this respect, hope that came across right.

Mick

 

M

Merman

Well-known member

• Sep 18, 2006

• #4

OK, heres one of the photos. ive had to crop it a lot in photoshop because on the original picture it is just a spec in a tree. even though it was quite close i had to use full digital zoom. i was using a cheapish digital camera.

this is just one bird which im pretty sure is a whitethroat. but as i say there are quite a few in that small patch and they look like different species to me. maybe some other warbler that likes the same habitat? if not lesser whitethroats. unfortunately i only have pictures of this one bird.

 

Last edited: Sep 18, 2006

Andrew Whitehouse

Professor of Listening

Supporter

• Sep 18, 2006

• #5

The first photo looks more like a Lesser Whitethroat but it's a hard call. The mantle (at least on my monitor) looks grey brown without any rufous tone (the best distinguishing feature). Maybe a hint of a darker patch around the eye too, which is more noticeable in Lesser. Very hard though.

 

Jane Turner

Well-known member

• Sep 18, 2006

• #6

It is indeed hard, if only the first pic existed I too would be leaning towards lesser. The other two look more like Whitethroat (on structure), so I'm left with deciding which of the pics I believe!

 

KnockerNorton

Well-known member

• Sep 18, 2006

• #7

I think you've got to go on jizz with those pics. It looks like a whitethroat to me. On pic 1 the wings do look a bit contrasty, which supports whitethroat, and the face looks quite plain around the eye, so I'll stick with whitethroat. Just on balnce, you're also less likely to get a lesser sitting out in the open like that. It's one of those which you'll never be sure of, though. But I'd still put a quid on whitethroat.

 

Andrew Rowlands

Well-known member

• Sep 18, 2006

• #8

The apparent height the bird is perched at (12 - 15 feet?) is fine for Lesser, seen plenty perched out in the open like this.

Otherwise, everything else makes me think it's a communis; the mantle doesn't show enough grey, tail length and overall structure makes me think it has to be a Common.

Andy.

 

Andrew Whitehouse

Professor of Listening

Supporter

• Sep 18, 2006

• #9

As Jane says, the bird looks somewhat different in the different pictures. I think the mantle colour in the first picture (if that's any true reflection of how it really looked) is fine for Lesser Whitethroat but she's right to point out the long-tailed appearance in the other two being better for Common Whitethroat. Like lots of pictures that get put up on Bird Forum, it's all a bit ambiguous, although that doesn't stop some from being sure of what they're seeing.

 

M

Merman

Well-known member

• Sep 18, 2006

• #10

The bird in that pic is about 15ft up in a tree, yes. I was tying my shoelace when it flew into the tree and started singing. (it mustnt have seen me kneeling down) so I crept a bit closer to it and took those pics. It was around May/June.

thats not the area where i normally see them though.

 

Andrew Whitehouse

Professor of Listening

Supporter

• Sep 18, 2006

• #11

Merman said:

The bird in that pic is about 15ft up in a tree, yes. I was tying my shoelace when it flew into the tree and started singing. (it mustnt have seen me kneeling down) so I crept a bit closer to it and took those pics. It was around May/June.

thats not the area where i normally see them though.

Click to expand...

Can you remember what the song was like because the two species sound fairly different? You can hear recordings here:
http://www.birdforum.net/birdsong.php

 

Jane Turner

Well-known member

• Sep 18, 2006

• #12

The football rattle bit at the end of Lesser Whitethroat is very disctintive

 

Andrew Rowlands

Well-known member

• Sep 18, 2006

• #13

Merman said:

The bird in that pic is about 15ft up in a tree, yes. I was tying my shoelace when it flew into the tree and started singing. (it mustnt have seen me kneeling down) so I crept a bit closer to it and took those pics. It was around May/June.

thats not the area where i normally see them though.

Click to expand...

Sounding much more like a Lesser now; I've known many (unpaired or late migrant?) Lessers to travel around potential territories, singing as they go. If the area has little background noise levels, this distinctive song (as Jane notes) can be heard from perhaps a couple of hundred metres away; stand still and listen and the range of the bird can be worked out - sometimes it's a very large area!