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possible Buffbellied americsan Pipet in Malta (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter d.flack
- Start date
Rotherbirder
Well-known member
Looks more like a Red-throated Pipit to me.
RB
RB
Valéry Schollaert
Respect animals, don't eat or wear their body or s
What is wrong for a Red-throated Pipit on your bird ?
Edit : slow connection in the Philippines make my message delayed, hence cross-posting with Rotherbird. Let's say simple I agree on Red-throated Pipit suggestion
Edit : slow connection in the Philippines make my message delayed, hence cross-posting with Rotherbird. Let's say simple I agree on Red-throated Pipit suggestion
d.flack
David Flack
Actually I have done some further research and think that it is not an american Pipit but a Siberian Buff-bellied Pipit Anthus r.japonicus, the asian race of the buff-bellied pipit, comparing pictures online my bird seems to be a perfect fit and this race of Buff bellied Pipit is a migrant through the middle East. Malta therefore fits for rare visits from this race of the buff-bellied Pipit.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
That's a bold statement when there's only one record I can see from Turkey which is much closer than Malta, to where they are rare vagrants, not regular passage migrants.
'Sandgrouse 31 (2009)
japonicus winters mainly in Japan, Taiwan and south-east China. There are regular winter records from Pakistan and southern Israel (Cramp 1998), and it is winter vagrant to Oman (Balmer & Betton 2006) and UAE (Balmer & Betton 2008'
I'm not sure that BbP ever look so white below but here's a RtP from Cyprus which looks very similar to yours.
http://www.davidtomlinsonphotos.co.uk/birds/pipits_wags/rt_pipit_3.jpg
You seem to have convinced yourself of the ID so submit the record, I look forward to reading the committee decision.
Last edited:
firecrest15
Well-known member
HI David, for what it's worth (and not just because A. r . japonicus would be an extreme rarity for Malta), your photo reminds me strongly of the Red-throated Pipits I've seen in the Med. area and beyond. I can perfectly understand from web photos of Siberian Pipit why you're leaning that way but to me the mantle black marks (just about visible on your bird) are too big & bold for that species.
PYRTLE
Old Berkshire Boy
Yes, a few do winter throughout the Med. Certainly Cyprus has a few records and the geographical and climatic conditions through the regions of Malta, Turkey and Greece would be fine to accommodate them.
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
Nothing new there - mapped as wintering in the Med in justabout every field guide I've got :t:
Agreed. Japonicus has plain scapulars and the contrasting pattern is spot-on for Red-throated. Still a nice winter record for Malta nonetheless.
Rotherbirder
Well-known member
Don't you just love it when they ask for help only to ignore the opinion of the majority when it doesn't agree with what they want it to be!? As Andy says; go ahead, submit it - make my day!
RB
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
It would be a very bright Meadow Pipit but I've had a similar bird here in Russia.
