Marsh Tit or Willow Tit (1 Viewer)

[vivster]

Marsh Tit or Willow Tit

 

[Kingfisher21]

Marsh tit. Pale spot on upper mandible is visible in the first photo.

 

[vivster]

thanks

 

[pianoman]

Has the glossy crown ID feature been discredited? I can see a nice shine on it. Not disputing the ID btw

 

[Andy1979]

Two tone cheek and pale spot on bill = Marsh for me.

 

[dan pointon]

Also no pale edging to secondaries on this bird

 

[chris butterworth]

The glossy crown ( it doesn't take much abrasion for the gloss to wear off, and the light has to be right as well ) and pale margins to the secondaries are very variable in both Marsh and Willow. The two-toned 'cheek' and - more importantly - the pale spot on the base of the bill are the only definitive field marks seperating a silent Marsh from Willow.

Chris