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Twite? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter SeanKP
- Start date
My best guess would be a female Linnet. You don't mention where or when you took the photo, but if local to you and recently, a Twite would also be very unlikely. More a winter bird to coastlines, etc, in your part of the world.
I'd agree with Jos - it's a linnet. The bill is far to large/heavy for a twite
Keith Reeder
Watch the birdie...
Yeah, I'd agree that it's a female linnet.
Twite generally has a variably yellow beak, whereas this bird has the standard issue linnet grey Laughing Tackle.
Twite generally has a variably yellow beak, whereas this bird has the standard issue linnet grey Laughing Tackle.
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Keith Reeder said:
I think that twite only have a yellow bill in winter (when I normally see them), but it is grey/brown in breeding plumage.
SeanKP
Fledgling
Thanks guys. Female linnet it is then.
Frustratingly, none of my books mention that I'm most likely to see Twites in winter on the coast and in fact a couple of them say that they are to be found on moorland which is where I saw it (Stanwell Moor). Apart from the size of the bill (see my recent reed bunting thread for why THAT is frustrating) the various pictures of twites in my books resemble (to me, at least) this bird much more closely than the pictures of female linnets.
Attached is a picture of a bird (also taken at Stanwell Moor) which I had identified as a female linnet. Now to me, this has a much more distinctive light patch on the cheek and the stripes along the side of the wing (outer primaries?) are much more pronounced. I've learnt that all birds of the same kind don't look identical (see the aforementioned reed bunting thread) but I am finding all this very frustrating.
Oh well, I guess I just need to keep plugging away...
Sean
Frustratingly, none of my books mention that I'm most likely to see Twites in winter on the coast and in fact a couple of them say that they are to be found on moorland which is where I saw it (Stanwell Moor). Apart from the size of the bill (see my recent reed bunting thread for why THAT is frustrating) the various pictures of twites in my books resemble (to me, at least) this bird much more closely than the pictures of female linnets.
Attached is a picture of a bird (also taken at Stanwell Moor) which I had identified as a female linnet. Now to me, this has a much more distinctive light patch on the cheek and the stripes along the side of the wing (outer primaries?) are much more pronounced. I've learnt that all birds of the same kind don't look identical (see the aforementioned reed bunting thread) but I am finding all this very frustrating.
Oh well, I guess I just need to keep plugging away...
Sean
Attachments
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SeanKP said:
That's the fun of birding! If too easy, what would we have to argue about
Keith Reeder
Watch the birdie...
Hi Postcard,
definitely yellowest in the Winter, and that's when I usually see 'em too, but I thought they retained a hint of yellow, albeit darker, throughout the year.
Maybe not, in which case I've learned something too...
definitely yellowest in the Winter, and that's when I usually see 'em too, but I thought they retained a hint of yellow, albeit darker, throughout the year.
Maybe not, in which case I've learned something too...
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dan pointon
Can't Stop
Isn't the original picture a juv. Linnet, this could be where the confusion is arising from.
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