Unidentified Nesting Bird, South-East England (1 Viewer)

[JakeMicallef]

Hello,

On a external light fitting, a small bird has made a nest almost entirely out of moss and horse hair.
I am trying to identify it but the closest I can get is a wheatear, which apparently nest in rabbit burrows.
I then thought it could possibly be a grey wagtail, but it has much too light of a face.

I would be very thankful if someone with expertise in British birds could identify this for me, as having a bird nesting on the outside of my house is interesting, but frustrating that I can't identify it.

Some of it's features are:
Long grey tail feather (see in image)
Black stripe over eye
Pointy, medium length, straight, black beak

Apologies for the terrible image quality, I just don't to disturb her too much by getting too close.
I really hope someone can help me with this.

Thanks in advance, Jake

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

Hello,

On a external light fitting, a small bird has made a nest almost entirely out of moss and horse hair.
I am trying to identify it but the closest I can get is a wheatear, which apparently nest in rabbit burrows.
I then thought it could possibly be a grey wagtail, but it has much too light of a face.

I would be very thankful if someone with expertise in British birds could identify this for me, as having a bird nesting on the outside of my house is interesting, but frustrating that I can't identify it.

Some of it's features are:
Long grey tail feather (see in image)
Black stripe over eye
Pointy, medium length, straight, black beak

Apologies for the terrible image quality, I just don't to disturb her too much by getting too close.
I really hope someone can help me with this.

Thanks in advance, Jake

Looks good for Spotted Flycatcher.

 

[delia todd]

Hi Jake and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators.

LOL from your description I was thinking Pied Wagtail, but I'll not argue the toss with BH, a much more experienced ID'er than me.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[Allen]

Looks like a Pied Wagtail

 

[Butty]

Looks good for Spotted Flycatcher.

My guess too, and an appropriate nest-site.

 

[Allen]

The bird can clearly! (with photo artefacts!) be seen and it's a Pied Wag not a Spotted Fly.

 

[JakeMicallef]

The bird can clearly! (with photo artefacts!) be seen and it's a Pied Wag not a Spotted Fly.

I'm not too sure about pied wagtail, I sometimes see them bouncing around in the back garden but they don't normally have a stripe over their eye.

 

[Allen]

All I can tell you is that the bird on the nest in your pictures is a Pied Wagtail.

 

[Butty]

3 times...

 

[Jane Turner]

Looks rather Spot Fly like to me - esp the first pic with the head shape and bill colouration

 

[CARERY]

Spotted Flycatcher no doubt.

 

[Allen]

3 times...

Apologies for having conviction in my opinion but your sarcasm wasn't warranted or necessary. Consensus seems to be Spot Fly so I'll let it rest there unless Jake comes back with more info/pictures.

 

[Butty]

No sarcasm. It's not etiquette on here simply to go on repeating an ID without giving a reason.

 

[Allen]

A fair point Butty, I should have provided supporting reasons for my views.

To me I can see a bird with open pale face, dark cap, indistinct loral stripe (albeit more prominent in the first pic by shadow), black fine bill, grey back, white edges to wing feathers and a tail which appears longish (which Jake mentions) with distinct white outer tail feathers. But that is purely my perception of the 2 pictures and clearly others see differently.

 

[mummymonkey]

Thanks for the clarification Allen. When I saw these pictures yesterday I immediately thought spotted flycatcher for no other reason than "it just looks like one". I didn't think the images were good enough to say with any certainty so didn't post.

What I would say, is that for pied wagtail, I would expect there to be a much longer gap between the end of the wing and the rest of the tail.
See here for example - BBC NEWS | England | Kent | Builders fence off wagtail nest
And I appreciate it's scrunched up in its nest and all.

 

[JakeMicallef]

A fair point Butty, I should have provided supporting reasons for my views.

To me I can see a bird with open pale face, dark cap, indistinct loral stripe (albeit more prominent in the first pic by shadow), black fine bill, grey back, white edges to wing feathers and a tail which appears longish (which Jake mentions) with distinct white outer tail feathers. But that is purely my perception of the 2 pictures and clearly others see differently.

Thank you very much for your input.
I will try and get some more pictures of her tomorrow and attach them to this thread!

 

[JakeMicallef]

Hi Everyone thanks so much for all of the input.
I have got another decent picture and I am leaning more towards Pied Wagtail due to the black and white colouration on the back.
Again, not a great picture, but I don't want to stress her out too much.
What do we reckon??

Thanks again,
Jake

 

[mummymonkey]

I think we can say with confidence it's a pied wagtail from that image.

 

[PaulCountyDurham]

Hi Everyone thanks so much for all of the input.
I have got another decent picture and I am leaning more towards Pied Wagtail due to the black and white colouration on the back.View attachment 1392717
Again, not a great picture, but I don't want to stress her out too much.
What do we reckon??

Thanks again,
Jake

I reckon very difficult to tell based on the pictures posted, unless there is another bird in there that I'm just not seeing and the one I think is a bird is something entirely different. No offence intended but what I think is the bird barely resembles one.

If it's the shape at the back of the box, then I just can't see how that bird can be a spotted flycatcher. I can see pied wagtail in that bird, i.e. the flattish top part of the head and the general shape. It could quite easily be neither. Due to the image quality, I wouldn't say the colours are necessarily black and white, 'could be anything in that light; or are you saying you have seen the bird with your own eyes and the colours are black and white?

'Doesn't remotely look like a spotted flycatcher to me.

 

[Allen]

Thanks for the new picture Jake. That nails the ID. Lets hope she raises a brood. Cheers.