Whinchat or Stonechat? West Suffolk, yesterday. (1 Viewer)

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

I noticed this bird with naked eye, and an obvious adult male Stonechat, and assumed it was a female Stonechat.

On a quick check with bins, I thought it was an immature male Stonechat.

Later checking in the scope I began to think it was an immature Whinchat.

Tail pattern not seen unfortunately. Always a bit distant.





View attachment IMG_9864.mov

 

[KenM]

Stonechat for me, lighting can make them look a touch Whinchat looking, particularly head on, it seems to “enhance” the eyebrow.

Cheers

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

Seems like the consensus is Stonechat. Which is what I thought at first. I should have stuck rather than twisted. 🃏 😅

 

[dantheman]

Seems like the consensus is Stonechat. Which is what I thought at first. I should have stuck rather than twisted. 🃏 😅

It's always worth considering the split though ... autumn, rarer stonechats and all that ...


I looked closely at the tail pic - you'd see the tail sides if they were there for Whinchat, no? Some Stonechats show more pronounced eyebrows (Eastern birds and some other random ones).

EDIT: Oh, and the dark throat in some pics is diagnostic of Stonechat, no?

 

[Butty]

dark throat in some pics

It's pale in all.

 

[dantheman]

It's pale in all.

Maybe so. It's hard to judge, but the third/fourth pics don't look like shadow to me. Pic one is blurred, burnt out I guess anyway.

 

[pianoman]

Autumn female Stonechat can be confusing, but I don't think I've ever seen a supercilium this marked in any Stonechat before

 

[dantheman]

Some Stonechats show more pronounced eyebrows (Eastern birds and some other random ones).

By 'Eastern' I mean 'eastern', just for clarity - I believe that European Stonechats from the east of the range can show much more pronounced supercilium compared to most normal British birds. Sorry, I don't have a source for this.

 

[Bismarck Honeyeater]

By 'Eastern' I mean 'eastern', just for clarity - I believe that European Stonechats from the east of the range can show much more pronounced supercilium compared to most normal British birds. Sorry, I don't have a source for this.

I think I may have read that too.
I guess it is just at the extreme end of variation of European Stonechat. This individual certainly a chimera in the field and on film.