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4 british birds (1 Viewer)

All i was doing was reading all of the evidence and suggesting what i thought of the ID of the birds in question.

which forgive me is what this forum is for.

I gave my opinion and reasons for this opinion. You do not have to like them. Lecturing me is not the way forward for mutual learning.


you are talking as though a 4cm difference is a small difference, which is not the case at all.
it is a big difference in such a small bird.

the reason that i mentioned the legs is the fact that in my opinion the tarsi are far too thick, too long for a wren and that the whole leg is in the wrong proportions for a wren. Add to that the feather patterns around the top of the leg, the general size of the bird, the Gizz of the bird. Also the plumage traits adequately discussed above then i feel that the only conclusion is that it is not a wren.

My best idea is a Whitethroat Juv but i am not fixed on this, merely that it is not a wren.
 
iainhawk said:
I gave my opinion and reasons for this opinion. You do not have to like them. Lecturing me is not the way forward for mutual learning.
Click to expand...
I'm not lecturing, I'm disagreeing and giving my reasons. Calm down!

iainhawk said:
you are talking as though a 4cm difference is a small difference, which is not the case at all.
it is a big difference in such a small bird..
Click to expand...
yes, I agree, but it's not a big difference to try and judge at about 5m distance or more, which is what that pic is taken at.

iainhawk said:
the reason that i mentioned the legs is the fact that in my opinion the tarsi are far too thick, too long for a wren and that the whole leg is in the wrong proportions for a wren. ..
Click to expand...
Look at these for wren leg proportions:
http://www.birdfood.co.uk/images/fact_files/wren_01.jpg

hardly stubby? In fact, the 2nd bird isn't bad for pic2, if you turned its head and shone a bright light on it and blurred out the detail.
 
I cant believe thia debate is still going on. You can even assign the bird in pic two to race - I nearly made that semi-facetious comment since one of Dan's links appeared to show an icterops!

Its absolutely not a Wren... Its absolutely not a Nightingale. It absolutely is a Whitethroat....

Sign me up for hat eating
 
Jane Turner said:
I cant believe thia debate is still going on. You can even assign the bird in pic two to race - I nearly made that semi-facetious comment since one of Dan's links appeared to show an icterops!

Its absolutely not a Wren... Its absolutely not a Nightingale. It absolutely is a Whitethroat....

Sign me up for hat eating
Click to expand...

Calm down dear its only a forum
 
Jane Turner said:
I cant believe thia debate is still going on. You can even assign the bird in pic two to race - I nearly made that semi-facetious comment since one of Dan's links appeared to show an icterops!

Its absolutely not a Wren... Its absolutely not a Nightingale. It absolutely is a Whitethroat....

Sign me up for hat eating
Click to expand...

But you are quite right
 
My revised poinion:
1. Whimbrel
2. Whitethroat
3. Young whitethroat/Lesser Whitethroat
4. Chiffchaff
5. Spotted Flycatcher
1, 4, and 5 are certain. I'm prepared to eat my BF cap, badges and all!
 
Think we had better leave pic 2, before all hell breaks loose. Despite some people making out they're 100% certain its one thing or another, I think the lighting, angle, etc makes it impossible to id this bird beyond disuasion. I think ever case for the bird being either a Nightingale, a Whitethroat, or even a wren has been covered, and neither opinion looks like shifting. Lets not fall out over it.

PS, notice 333 hasn't posted in a while. I think we scared him off! Sorry 333. We're not always this bad!

Jason
 
Jane Turner said:
I cant believe thia debate is still going on. You can even assign the bird in pic two to race - I nearly made that semi-facetious comment since one of Dan's links appeared to show an icterops!

Its absolutely not a Wren... Its absolutely not a Nightingale. It absolutely is a Whitethroat....

Sign me up for hat eating
Click to expand...

I can't let Jane struggle on alone. She is absolutley correct.
 
Mike Pennington said:
I can't let Jane struggle on alone. She is absolutley correct.
Click to expand...

I've been agreeing with her all along.....the variety and definitiveness with which some of the opinions on this thread have been expressed really goes to show that, as was said before, ID'ing from pics like this can be nigh on impossible. Clearly Poecile and Jane both know their stuff, yet both are certain of different out comes, photo's can be so deceptive! For what it's worth though i'm still a Whitethroat hat eater.
 
I wonder how those hats digest: It might be a better alternative for throwing expensive optical gear in seas, swamps etc. or leave em abandoned hanging in trees.
 
Oh, this is bugging me now! Mike, Dan and Jane, can you please explain why the bird in pic 2 has a very obviously rufous tail, while whitethroats never show this? Compare the pics in Jane's structural comparisons post and look at the whitethroat's tails. And now the tail in pic 2. How can you square the difference in colour?
 
The tail does appear a little rufous, but not as rufous as the wing. Surely a Wren would show a dark eyestripe and pale supercilium, wouldn't show a pure white throat, nicely demarked from creamy pinkish wash on breast, or a grey head. I can totally see where the wren angle is coming from, especially given the jizz of the bird in the photo, but this bird is one million percent Whitethroat.
 
Poecile said:
Oh, this is bugging me now! Mike, Dan and Jane, can you please explain why the bird in pic 2 has a very obviously rufous tail, while whitethroats never show this? Compare the pics in Jane's structural comparisons post and look at the whitethroat's tails. And now the tail in pic 2. How can you square the difference in colour?
Click to expand...


(a different dan here)

But, looking at this thread and others, when identifying birds from single pics, I'm thinking colours/tones/hues are one of the least important factors to get hung up on,they seem to be artificially bright or 'wrong' in many cases, due to lighting conditions/camera settings/possible alteration in photoshop etc/monitor colour.

I said earlier out of context Reed Warbler (no-one shot me down in flames, yet ;), based on colour alone this would be my wild guess (after the more obvious Whitethroat), and over and above such others as Wren etc. But given that the colours seem to so often come out 'untrue' its good habitat for Whitethroat, the sub-moustachial (hope I got that) is right, posture, rufous wing panel etc are all there for Whitey.

Single photo syndrome rules!!
 
Ok, nobody's buying it, fair enough! (really can't see any warmth on the those pics though, Jane - turn your monitor contrast down! :eek:) ).

Ok, last desperate stab at it before I throw in the towel - it is more likely to be a wren on grounds of chance alone, as wrens are the most common bird in the UK by far compared to all other contenders. Case closed!

I can just about get my head why it might look a little like a whitethorat on the head, cos of the image distortion, but the rest still says wren all the way.

Can someone start a marsh/willow tit thread please, I like those better!
 
Just thought 1 whimbrel, 2 whitethroats and a chiffer deserved 100 length thread. Must be a slow news day or are we just not too hot on Peruvian birds at present?
 
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