30km south of Madrid, Spain about 2 months ago (1 Viewer)

[Christopher K]

Sorry about quality of photo, there was some heat haze and camera was at maximum amplification (25x).
I’ve shown it to experts and no joy. Bill was long and thin, tail short and square, seeing it at first without binoculars I thought it was a raptor, obviously not when getting an amplified view.
Any ideas please?

 

[Bewick]

Would suggest starling as the most likely option, believe you have two species in that area, spotless and European, could be either- quality is too poor to be more specific.

 

[Christopher K]

Sorry about quality of photo. Bird was much much larger than a starling, but shot at some distance. Couldn’t get any closer as there was a body of water in between.

 

[Jos Stratford]

I also got a Starling feeling from this image

 

[01101001]

Jackdaw with the bill eaten away at its borders by artifacts? While I'm not 100% certain the silhouette is spot on, I can't reconcile the grey head, and black face and bill with Starling. From what I see, Jackdaws in Spain have grey heads*.

Bill was long and thin, tail short and square

Was this your field impression, or did you judge it from the photo?

EDIT: *not all but many

Eurasian Jackdaw - Corvus monedula - Media Search - Macaulay Library and eBird

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[PYRTLE]

Common Starling.

 

[wheatearlp]

I'd go with Starling too, based on overall shape.

 

[THE_FERN]

Jackdaw with the bill eaten away at its borders by artifacts? While I'm not 100% certain the silhouette is spot on, I can't reconcile the grey head, and black face and bill with Starling. From what I see, Jackdaws in Spain have grey heads*.


Was this your field impression, or did you judge it from the photo?

EDIT: *not all but many

Eurasian Jackdaw - Corvus monedula - Media Search - Macaulay Library and eBird

Explore millions of photos, audio recordings, and videos of birds and other animals; powered by Macaulay Library and eBird. The Macaulay Library collects, archives, and distributes wildlife media for research, education, and conservation.

media.ebird.org

Starling. The shape.

Edit: which starling? Presume common but impossible with this image

 

[rosbifs]

Would be spotless this far south

 

[Butty]

Bird was much much larger than a starling

Judging the size of a lone bird is notoriously unreliable.

I can't reconcile the grey head, and black face and bill with Starling

In an image of this (no offence to OP) low quality, such colours/shades cannot be assumed real.

 

[THE_FERN]

Would be spotless this far south

Vaguely remember some thread which I think said you get common in Madrid area in autumn/winter. Anyway impossible to tell from this image