Pipit ID please.. (1 Viewer)

[Muratfaik]

I took this photo in January 2022, Samandağ-Hatay-Turkey (many accidental record in previous years). The supercilium of this bird is unusually bold, suggesting Olive-backed Pipit. But lacking buffish foreend and white spot on the ear plates questinable. I read some of the olive-backed pipits does not show these characters (especially in yunannensis). Opinions please. Thanks.

 

[kuzeycem]

Red-throated Pipit Olive-backed (and Tree) never have orange/yellow bill bases.

 

[Muratfaik]

Thanks for your opinion. Bill and legg color fits to the A. cervinus. White mantle strikes also support it. However I have been taking footages of A. cervinus for years and I also checked Turkish amateur bird photographer database for this species. Didn’t find any eyebrow (supercilium) like the viking crown wing shaped 3D feather bulge on the bird’s head. Only two bird photos on the net shows similar markings of it. But these birds have buffish cast on under sites of the body. The bird on my photo have a clear whitish ground color at the throat and breast. Only very light pale yellowish cast is noticable on the flanks. We know that, red throated looses it’s buff tones before migrating to its wintering quarters. But almost allways shows some buffish wash on throat and underbody (sides of breast etc). Unusually prominent eyebrow, together with a lack of buffish tones on plumage, brings to me the idea of hybridization with a similar species. Besides guidebook ID rules, I suppose looking for details in topography of the bird is a better approach. Pipits are one of the most problematic group of the passerines for identification and the very minute details are very important for the taxonomy of the bird. As might be known; some of the subspecies of (European) reed warblers, are considered as another subspecies of a totally different African reed warbler by different taxonomists. I am classifying my footage database and I am sharing some of the intriguing ones on several birding platforms so that I can get different opinions for the same bird. I believe this may be helpful for the future Turkish ornithological studies.