3 from Tobago, poor photos. (1 Viewer)

[Freezo]

3 for confirmation / ID from SW Tobago. Apologies for some very blurred images.

1. Is the egret a tricoloured egret? The dark breast is confusing me. My field guide(s) seem only to show side on views. This was in a pond/creek on a golf course, but there were mangroves less than 50 yards away.

2. This chaffinch-size - with apologies to non-Europeans - or maybe slightly smaller bird was noticably speckled, almost starling-like in real life. It made repeated fly-catching flights of 1-3 m in a looped arch, always returning to the same perch. In scrubland near the aforementioned golf course. Lots of open country nearby, mangroves maybe 200 yards away.

3. Is this a Cocoa Woodcreeper? My field guide suggests the only other woodcreepers on Tobago are Plain-brown and Olivaceous, both of which are unstreaked, but shows no white throat area on Cocoa W. but white throat illustrated on Streak-headed WC which should be absent from Tobago, but found on Trinidad. Difficult to gauge size in the field but seemed Ok for Cocoa WC. In belt of trees immediately next to mangroves. Scuttled up trunk before flying to low on trunk of another tree before scuttling up there.

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[njlarsen]

1 - yes
Not sure about 2 and 3

Niels

 

[njlarsen]

Regarding 3, looking in some books, I think you are right.

Re 2: Are you sure it was flycatching? Can you describe the shape of the bill of this bird?

Niels

 

[Kratter]

1) Tricolored Heron
2) Blue-black Grassquit. The "flycatching" is the "popcorn" mating display. Looks like a young male.
3) Cocoa Woodcreeper (common on Tobago, and no other woodcreepers there)
Andy

 

[Freezo]

Thanks for the replies.

Niels - I cannot be sure the bird was flycatching and Kratter's explanation of a mating display is eminently plausible. The hops/flights were quite "flappy" and with a twist and a flared out tail, and were always the shape of an upside down water-drop. Not sure if any of that is helpful! I unfortunately didn't note anything regarding bill-shape.

I did though think the bird was a little bigger than a grassquit, but I could well be wrong. I also believe I saw a Blue-black grassquit earlier in the week and maybe 400 m away.

Having searched the web for Cocoa woodcreeper images some have white on the throat, so I'm pretty sure that is indeed what 3 is.

Thanks again,

Fraser

 

[njlarsen]

Re 2: I was having the same thought as Andy. Speckles as he says would indicate a young male moulting into the fully blue-black plumage. Your details about the tail would be expected in display and not in flycatching.

Niels

 

[Peter C.]

Agree with Kratter.

Re: the Woodcreeper, the Cocoa is the only woodcreeper on either island with a bill like that (long, dark) and streaked underparts. They also seem to love mangroves.

Re: the Grassquit. I never would have guessed it, but now the Kratter tipped us off, I see that there is an illustration of a male in transitional plumage in the 3rd Edition of the ffrench guide, looking much like this.

 

[Jon Turner]

Don't the locals call the Grassquit 'Johnny-jump-up'? For this reason?