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An unknown bird in Silesian city Gliwice in Poland (1 Viewer)

K

Karren

Member
As a child, I saw a species of bird that I still can't identify. I also had a figurine of this bird. It was more than 10 years ago.

It was a bird about the size of a sparrow, the body structure was also rather similar, but the color was yellow with brown feathers in the tail and wings, it also had a blurry pink stripe on the neck. It might have had a white belly, but I'm not sure about that. The beak was rather light colored (pink/light brown, not black). In addition, it made a kind of rattling sound and moved in little jumps instead of walking, if I remember correctly.

It's unusual that I came across this bird species only once in my life. I can't find it in any book I've had the opportunity to search, and I've searched quite a lot of them. Searching for information on the internet also did not bring the expected results.

I saw this bird in Poland (in a city named Gliwice, Silesia region), but it could be a tropical bird that was someone's lost pet. Unfortunately I don't have any picture of it because I didn't have a mobile phone back then
 
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If you cannot find it in a book for native birds, it is probably an escaped Canary or some estrildine finch or a parrot.
best,
 
I'm sure it wasn't a parrot, the beak was different, like that of a sparrow. About canaries, I couldn't find a canary with that type of markings (red or pink blurry stripe on the neck and brown feathers in wings).
And I can't find it not only in books about native birds from my country, but also in books about birds from all the world. I search through literally every book about birds I have access to, still no results after all those years
 
I don't know if this is much of a thing in Poland but people breed hybrids between canaries and other finch species, and between finch species (e.g. Greenfinch x Goldfinch, Goldfinch x Linnet or whatever). Also colour mutations of finch species e.g. Goldfinches without the red or the black on their heads, pale or piebald versions of many species, etc. So an escaped bird could well not match the wild colouration of any species.

Having said that, your description sounds vaguely like some sort of bunting to me. I wonder if this could be described as "blurry pink stripe on the neck"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-headed_bunting
 
I think if you saw this bird many years ago, some aspects could be blurred in your memory.

Anyway, I looked at 'canary color mutations' on google images and saw many yellow domestic canaries with random patches of pinkish or dark color.

best
 
stevethehydra said:
I don't know if this is much of a thing in Poland but people breed hybrids between canaries and other finch species, and between finch species (e.g. Greenfinch x Goldfinch, Goldfinch x Linnet or whatever). Also colour mutations of finch species e.g. Goldfinches without the red or the black on their heads, pale or piebald versions of many species, etc. So an escaped bird could well not match the wild colouration of any species.

Having said that, your description sounds vaguely like some sort of bunting to me. I wonder if this could be described as "blurry pink stripe on the neck"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-headed_bunting
Click to expand...

It's more like rusty brown here. Definitely too dark.
 
Lighting a match in a hurricane, needle in a haystack and other unsavoury examples suggest this is a lost cause. Of course an image would have been supplied at the very beginning of said mystery bird, figurine or basic sketch, why wouldn't you if you were seeking an identification.
 
Native finches that fit some of your description are Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Greenfinch etc. Failing that an escaped pet finch as others have said (zebra has the pink on side of its face)
 
PYRTLE said:
Lighting a match in a hurricane, needle in a haystack and other unsavoury examples suggest this is a lost cause. Of course an image would have been supplied at the very beginning of said mystery bird, figurine or basic sketch, why wouldn't you if you were seeking an identification.
Click to expand...

As a long time teacher, I learned the hard way not to assume anything based upon what I myself would do. It's like IT - the first question is always the basics eg is it actually plugged in to the power source...the answer often surprises.
 
Muso said:
I take it you no longer have the figurine? You don't have an old photo with the figurine in the background...?
Click to expand...


I don't have a photo because I didn't have a mobile phone back then. And I no longer have this figurine, probably lost it (it was a smal styrofoam figurine with feathers in wings and tail) or there's also a high probability that it got destroyed by my younger sister
 
Bird species checked so far:
- American goldfinch
- Female Baltimore Oriole
- Canary
- Canary mix
- Common redpoll
- Cut-throat finch
- Eurasian siskin
- European robin
- Goldfinch
- Golden oriole
- Gouldian finch
- House finch
- Makawehi finch
- Orange-fronted yellow-finch
- Red cardinal (leucistic/mutation)
- Red-Headed Bunting
- Red-throated bee-eater
- Rodrigues Fody
- Rose-breasted grosbeak
- Saffron siskin
- Star finch
- Sudan golden sparrow
- Summer Tanager
- Tropical kingbird
- Yellow browed sparrow
- Yellow hammer
- Yellow-headed blackbird
- Yellow wagtail
- Yellow warbler
- Western tanager
 
You have very different-looking birds there on that list. What were the ones that came closest in terms of shape (bill, proportions, etc) and of colour?
 
They are different because the list contains also the species suggested by other people Some of them are definitely not this bird, like European robin, red-throated bee-eater, tropical kingbird and red cardinal.
The birds which are partially similar to the bird I search for:
- American goldfinch (yellow with dark wings but no pink stripe and the dark parts aren't brown)
- Yellowhammer (no pink)
- Rose-breasted grosbeak (only the brown ones with pink markings, but this pink color is the only partially right thing here)
- Western tanager (a bit similar, but wrong marking placement, too bold and also wings are black here)
- Common redpoll (some redpolls have nearly correct pink markings but are not yellow)
- Rodrigues fody (red on face instead of neck/chest)
- siskins, sparrows, finches (vaguely correct shape and size but wrong colors)
 
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