White-throated Bee-eater at Dakhla bay (1 Viewer)

The second Western Palearctic record found at Dakhla bay on 28 February 2017 by Billy Herman. Arnoud van den Berg photographed the bird later as well and commented that there is no reason to believe it’s an escape (so do I). Arnould’s photos and comments if you haven’t seen them:
http://www.magornitho.org/2017/03/white-throated-bee-eater-dakhla-bay/

I think escape is as improbable as a wild bird, given that Western Sahara has no zoos, bird parks etc.

Maybe somebody knows any natural circumstances which can ruffle bird feathers like that? The Bee-eaters feathers are not worn, but ruffled. Fallen in salty water?

jurek said:

I think escape is as improbable as a wild bird, given that Western Sahara has no zoos, bird parks etc.

Maybe somebody knows any natural circumstances which can ruffle bird feathers like that? The Bee-eaters feathers are not worn, but ruffled. Fallen in salty water?

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Agree this feather don't look merely worn, but actively damaged. Posted this on the other thread, but it looks like it's been in a cloth bag for a while - on a far more limited scale, I have seen woodpeckers with wings like that coming out of ringer's bags (and these have only been in the bags for short period while stored for processing) - the protruding wings tips rub against the bags and abrade, fr some reason, more so than with the tails.

Whilst wild origin would be well within expectations, there is south-north transport on this route - maybe an opportunist-caught bird further south, then transported north in the hope of a sale? Released or escaped in Dakhla?

That said, as an intra-African migrant, I agree there seems to be little real reason why the species, even if not this individual, would not occur in this region occasionally.

Look the beauty actively catching insects. Who said a released or escaped bird?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4yiZWzzvw0

Acrocephalus said:

Look the beauty actively catching insects. Who said a released or escaped bird?

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It may well be a genuine migrant, but if it had been caught in the wild relatively recently then released/escaped, is there any reason it would not act as a wild individual?

Jos, my last comment was partly joking. However, I understand the possibilities and respect everybody’s opinion but personally I think “catching the bird in the south, transport it and release it at Dakhla” (for whatever reason) a very unlikely possibility. The same for the escape.

Thankfully the bird stayed there long enough for other birders to see and photograph it. Here is “a more plausible explanation for the worn appearance” (in Max Berlijn’ words): “....I saw it also sitting in the middle of an acacia; this, and his age, could explain its worn feathers”.

Also, Lars Petersson took a photo (added to the link in OP) of the bird showing the symmetric moult of flight feathers (I don’t know what this information can add, but can help if someone knows the moult cycle of the species).

This bird was still present on 11th, flycatching successfully but still looking a bit tatty!