Wheatear - Portugal, Castro Verde, August 11th 2023 (1 Viewer)

[Rich139]

Hi all,

Any help with this wheatear appreciated... apologies for the distant heat hazy pics, these are all I managed.

I thought it was a northern at first glance but now not so sure it isn't a WBEW!

Thanks!

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Rich,

difficult bird for me and I hoped for others to comment.

Anyway, your second picture (nr 3) seems to show the typical tail pattern for a Black eared Wheatear. The black reaches higher up on the outer tail feathers and therefore the white is cutting in on the closed tail.
Yes, single picture effects and artefacts have to be considered but I get a "natural" impression (=that is how it looks like).

This reminds me of my own observations many yeares ago in Spain: there were birds that looked different to Northern Wheatears and there were birds where I thought: "is this a Northern? But when I saw them flying, the typical tail pattern for a BEW was easily seen.

Conclusion? If forced, I would opt for a Western Black eared Wheatear, but better wait for more comments.
Thanks from me too!

 

[lou salomon]

also head pattern is that of a Black-eared Wheatear.

 

[Bewick]

Supercilium is what's confusing me, though I think thats just a feature thats exaggerated by the quality of the image- for the reasons mentioned above I also agree with western black eared wheatear (western based on range).

 

[CARERY]

Agree with WBEW. In pic 3 one can assess the primary projection (too short for Northern) and tail projection (too long for Northern) which helps as well.

 

[Rich139]

Hi all thanks for the helpful responses and explanations.

Glad I took a second look at this one!

Rich