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Falcon (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Darrell Clegg
- Start date
dan pointon
Can't Stop
Looks Gyrish to me - where was this taken Darrell??
Stewart J.
Well-known member
Whats it eating Darrell?
Stewart
Stewart
Jane Turner
Well-known member
I give up on Falcons on the deck. That said it doesn't look that heavy to me though - what did it look like in the air? What was the wing to tail ratio?
Iceberg slim
Fly by night
stuck: looks very Gryric to me,size of prey would help,doesn't have moustachial streak of a peregrine,so a bit stumped.
martin :stuck:
martin :stuck:
Stewart J.
Well-known member
hummerman said:
I'm with Jane it just dosen't look "beefy" enough for Gyr?
Stewart
Edward woodwood
Member
ooks like an intermediate (grey phase) Gyr... esp with that tail (banding is a bit off normal Gyr though?)
although it might have a bit of someything else in it...?
although it might have a bit of someything else in it...?
Darrell Clegg
Well-known member
Thanks for your input. I can't see anything in it to rule out Gyrfalcon.
This was sent to me and Aquila to identify by a colleague at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
It was sent to him by a member of the public who photographed it at the weekend.
I may be wrong, but the prey looks like Black-headed Gull
Darrell
This was sent to me and Aquila to identify by a colleague at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
It was sent to him by a member of the public who photographed it at the weekend.
I may be wrong, but the prey looks like Black-headed Gull
Darrell
iainhawk
Well-known member
Hi there,
i agree that it does not look heavy enough for a Gyr, what about a escapee- pale Sakers have similar streaking and are less bukly...? and this bird does seem to have a 'cap' as a pale saker would.
The one point against that is that i think the tail of the bird in this picture looks wrong-a bit too long for a saker, but it is hard to tell with the angles.
it is a shame you cannot see if it has jess'
the prey does look like a juv black headed gull though. If it is then it fits with it being smaller than a gyr falcon-as the body and tail of the gull is about 0.75 that of the falcon pointing to the falcon being about 50-55cm from head to tail. Therefore if it is a saker it would be a female.
This is at the smallish end of a gyr range (50-65cm).
anyway just thought i would pose this as an alternative
i agree that it does not look heavy enough for a Gyr, what about a escapee- pale Sakers have similar streaking and are less bukly...? and this bird does seem to have a 'cap' as a pale saker would.
The one point against that is that i think the tail of the bird in this picture looks wrong-a bit too long for a saker, but it is hard to tell with the angles.
it is a shame you cannot see if it has jess'
the prey does look like a juv black headed gull though. If it is then it fits with it being smaller than a gyr falcon-as the body and tail of the gull is about 0.75 that of the falcon pointing to the falcon being about 50-55cm from head to tail. Therefore if it is a saker it would be a female.
This is at the smallish end of a gyr range (50-65cm).
anyway just thought i would pose this as an alternative
James Eaton
Trent Valley Crew
Unidentifiable to my eyes! could well be a Gyr, but with captive birds being crossbred, in my opinion impossible to rule out on this photograph. Was it an article in BB many years ago that mentioned second generation hybrids with Gry X Saker. Any more photos taken at different angles Darrell? It obviously looks like a Gyrfalcon, but can anyone prove beyond reasonable doubt that it is a pure Gyr?
Gull looks like a Black-headed, thats the only thing I am sure about!
Gull looks like a Black-headed, thats the only thing I am sure about!
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Edward
Umimmak
James Eaton said:
Aye you are right James, it could have something else in it, but looks good for Gyr all the same, no way of knowing for sure. Glad we don't have to worry about falconry escapes in Iceland. Here's the real thing for comparison, one we saw in September in SW Iceland, photo by Yann.
E
Attachments
Strandman
Well-known member
Edward said:
That nicely shows a dark tail with light markings- rather than light tail with dark markings as in the ?identity bird here.
I'm not sure how significant an ID point that is for a bird which on overall looks seems to be midway betwen light and dark phase Gyr.
I don't have it to hand, but I recall there's a fascinating bit in the Poyser book explaining that the two types of Gyr tail marking look much less different to each other in UV light.
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iainhawk
Well-known member
Edward woodwood
Member
seems there might be a Gyr in Cornwall....
anyone who 'needs' one going to search for it
or wait until it goes on the pagers?
Tim
anyone who 'needs' one going to search for it
or wait until it goes on the pagers?
Tim
Pics of possible hybrid Saker x Gyr
Dear all,
This link is to a few photos of a possible hybrid Saker x Gyr seen in The Netherlands recently.
www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery11
Regards,
Lancey
Dear all,
This link is to a few photos of a possible hybrid Saker x Gyr seen in The Netherlands recently.
www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery11
Regards,
Lancey
No one in Cornwall "needs" Gyr anyway... :bounce:Darrell Clegg
Well-known member
Well the chances of it being a twitchable Gyr are zilch!
Aquila and I have had another email saying that a photo exists of it wearing jessies, so it probably has quite a few Saker genes knocking around.
Although I thought it looked good for Gyr I couldn't get excited about it being wild as there were quite a few things "wrong" with the photo.
1. Wrong time of year for Gyrfalcon. Our records in the South West are almost exclusively late Feb / early April.
2. It is a very good photo. Surely a wild bird with a kill wouldn't let anyone get this near. I'm guessing a non-birder wouldn't be into digiscoping so to get this image they would either have to be almost on top of the bird or have a top range SLR setup.
3. One always has to have escaped birds in mind when dealing with rare falcons, and the fact that this photo shows the birds legs hidden raises alarm bells.
4. What I didn't disclose was that the photo was taken in a public park in Falmouth!
Darrell
Aquila and I have had another email saying that a photo exists of it wearing jessies, so it probably has quite a few Saker genes knocking around.
Although I thought it looked good for Gyr I couldn't get excited about it being wild as there were quite a few things "wrong" with the photo.
1. Wrong time of year for Gyrfalcon. Our records in the South West are almost exclusively late Feb / early April.
2. It is a very good photo. Surely a wild bird with a kill wouldn't let anyone get this near. I'm guessing a non-birder wouldn't be into digiscoping so to get this image they would either have to be almost on top of the bird or have a top range SLR setup.
3. One always has to have escaped birds in mind when dealing with rare falcons, and the fact that this photo shows the birds legs hidden raises alarm bells.
4. What I didn't disclose was that the photo was taken in a public park in Falmouth!
Darrell
