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'Bee-eater looking' bird (1 Viewer)

Michał Jaro

Well-known member
Hi . I found this photo from early april - very poor photo , but my only suggestion (beacause of shape, especially bill) is Bee- eater. I missed something ?
 

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Does look like a songbird with some bill deformation to me. It's a genetic defect which is not too rare. Browsing the web there are quite a few examples, like this Starling. Is this a blooming Hazelnut it is perching on? This could be a size reference... My first thought was female Blackbird, but with this photo?
 
Michał Jaro;3723066 said:
Hi . I found this photo from early april - very poor photo , but my only suggestion (beacause of shape, especially bill) is Bee- eater. I missed something ?

It is definitively a songbird (probably a female Blackbird). There are no Bee-eaters in early April, they are among the "late migrants", and they have quite a different posture (flat head, somewhat hunched, beak longer than this), plus they are always very colorful.
 
Possibly Golden Oriole - Rounded Head, long body and short square tail

(in a popular tree!)
 
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First of all, thank you for many comments and opinions !!
the colors in the picture do not seem to render any realism
the most intriguing was the bill for me - I have never seen blackbird with such a bill (4-th photo, long, thin !!).
but I understand - species variation :)
Thanks a lot
 
I could agree with this though isn't early April too early for the species?

A

I’m not sure Andy - the ones in East Anglia used to arrive early May (males a bit earlier than females). My Polish birding has all been done in Autumn but from BBs in Greece, Golden Orioles were already paired off and on site singing in the first week of May so if males arrive a few weeks earlier, perhaps not inconceivable for an early migrant individual?

average arrival date in the NE Poland according to this site 29/4

https://wildpoland.com/birds-of-ne-poland/
 
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I’m not sure Andy - the ones in East Anglia used to arrive early May (males a bit earlier than females). My Polish birding has all been done in Autumn but from BBs in Greece, Golden Orioles were already paired off and on site singing in the first week of May so if males arrive a few weeks earlier, perhaps not inconceivable for an early migrant individual?

average arrival date in the NE Poland according to this site 29/4

https://wildpoland.com/birds-of-ne-poland/

Surely this would have to be a female though?


A
 
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