ID Orange Finch Like Bird Waghäusel Germany (1 Viewer)

T

tractorboy

New member

• Jun 27, 2006

• #1

Hi

Can anyone please help us identify this orange/brown finch like bird seen today at the Waghäusel nature reserve in Southern Germany.

We are visiting Germany for the Football World Cup and go birding between games

We have looked in our European Bird books and searched the net but can't see anything like it anywhere.

The bird is the size of a sparrow and with very bright orange forehead and breast. His head markings are very distinctive.

Thanks

Peter & Lynn

 

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-25

Bird and squirrel lover.

• Jun 27, 2006

• #2

House Finch variant. With orange colors, much like this one I have....
pic --> http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y87/ign/Birds/100_0636.jpg


-Drake.

 

Xenospiza

Distracted

• Jun 27, 2006

• #3

It looks like some kind of African Canary hybrid... there are a few that approach this bird in pattern (but they're all yellow).

Can't exclude House Finch either, indeed.

 

Last edited: Jun 27, 2006

M

Mike Johnston

Well-known member

• Jun 27, 2006

• #4

-25 said:

House Finch variant. With orange colors, much like this one I have....
pic --> http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y87/ign/Birds/100_0636.jpg


-Drake.

Click to expand...

Looks most likely. Escaped cagebird.

 

London Birder

Well-known member

• Jun 27, 2006

• #5

would be my guess also ...

 

-25

Bird and squirrel lover.

• Jun 27, 2006

• #6

Mike Johnston said:

Looks most likely. Escaped cagebird.

Click to expand...

No, its just a color variant, pretty common actually.


The change toward orange and yellow plumage may be related to a high incidence of avian pox that was first noted in the early 1970s but probably began earlier.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_199901/ai_n8828775

 

London Birder

Well-known member

• Jun 27, 2006

• #7

yep, but an escapee this side of the pond (unless .... !)

 

-25

Bird and squirrel lover.

• Jun 27, 2006

• #8

London Birder said:

yep, but an escapee this side of the pond (unless .... !)

Click to expand...

Ohh, I gotcha.

 

London Birder

Well-known member

• Jun 27, 2006

• #9

Peter & Lynn,

was there just the one?

 

JANJ

Well-known member

• Jun 27, 2006

• #10

Not saying anything definitive but the head pattern and bill doe´s match that of a House Finch:

http://www.pbase.com/image/38892395

http://www.pbase.com/image/41864192

http://www.pbase.com/image/53521988

as doe´s structure, undertail covert pattern, primary projection, wing bars and underparts streaking.
Middle tertials might seem a little pointed for a fresh adult HS and the pale edges doe´s not look so clear cut.

JanJ

 

Last edited: Jun 27, 2006

lou salomon

the birdonist

• Jun 28, 2006

• #11

i've mailed thzis link to the local ornithologist/surveyer Ulrich Mahler, poss. the bird is known there already.

 

T

tractorboy

New member

• Jun 28, 2006

• #12

London Birder said:

Peter & Lynn,

was there just the one?

Click to expand...

Hi Des

Yes just the one. He was behaving like a sparrow pecking around on the pathway and he allowed us to get quite close, so he was not too botherered about humans.

 

Carlos U

Well-known member

• Jun 28, 2006

• #13

It is a domestic male canary, that pattern is common in the so called "bronze" type canaries.

 

Frenchy

Well-known member

• Jun 29, 2006

• #14

Bills too big to be a canary, and the tail fork is too shallow. This is quite rosefinch-like, but with a heavy bill and better defined streaking underneath, so i'll give another vote for a varient escaped house finch.

 

T

tractorboy

New member

• Jun 29, 2006

• #15

Thanks for the response

Thank you to everyone who responded to this thread. We're quite happy that it's a House Finch and very likely to be an escapee.

Peter & Lynn

 

S

stonechat1

New member

• Jun 29, 2006

• #16

For sure this bird is a house finch - male and not a canary!
That the plumage is not so bright and red as at wildlife - birds is no wonder. They need a lot of vegetable that the can build this red color like their wild fellows.
Best regards,
stonechat1

PS: Breed this species since 6 years in my aviarys.

 

Joern Lehmhus

Well-known member

• Jul 2, 2006

• #17

In my opinion also housefinch!
See the housefinch like bill and also the distribution of orange on the bird is okay for an orange variant housefinch.