Notuswinner
Well-known member
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Thanks!
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Thanks!
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ID please (Kilimanjaro & Arusha, Tanzania)6 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Notuswinner
- Start date
1. Seems to be a wheatear, presumably Pied male, maybe changing to non-breeding plumage.
2. Is from a previous thread. Andy Adcock thought Cabanis's Greenbul; I now agree with this, having decided that our local guide was wrong about the ID of the bird from Kakamega I posted in that thread - I think my bird was not Cabanis's, but Ansorge's.
3. There was a different picture of this bird posted on an earlier thread. Looking here I thought 'White-eye', but it doesn't really fit. I wonder if it could be African (Grey) Penduline-tit (which I've never seen)?
4 & 5. I think that Notuswinner wants someone to say this is Usumbara or Taita Thrush, but you would have to be braver than me to do this.
2. Is from a previous thread. Andy Adcock thought Cabanis's Greenbul; I now agree with this, having decided that our local guide was wrong about the ID of the bird from Kakamega I posted in that thread - I think my bird was not Cabanis's, but Ansorge's.
3. There was a different picture of this bird posted on an earlier thread. Looking here I thought 'White-eye', but it doesn't really fit. I wonder if it could be African (Grey) Penduline-tit (which I've never seen)?
4 & 5. I think that Notuswinner wants someone to say this is Usumbara or Taita Thrush, but you would have to be braver than me to do this.
Larry Sweetland
Formerly 'Larry Wheatland'
I can't really help here, except to point out that Arusha and Mt Kilimanjaro are a long way apart when it comes to bird options. More specific site information may be useful if any Africa experts come across these threads
It would be good to get both date and location to confirm the altitude and habitat of these birds. However I would offer the following
1. Having looked at this I would propose one of the Abyssinian/Mourning/Schalow's complex rather than pied. The amount of rufous in the tail and undertail coverts seem to suggest it this species group. IOC 9.2 has this as ssp schalowi under Abyssinian. The buff in the cap backs this up.
2. I am not sure why this is not a Brownbul? I don't think the photo is good enough to confirm all the points, but certainly looks like Northern Brownbul to me. I would expect some yellow/greenish tones to move to any of the other Phyllastephus species.
3. My immediate reaction was that this was a Phylloscopus. Magnifying the image also seems to show that there is some yellow fringing on the top of the primaries (could just be a trick of the photo though). I would suggest that this is Brown Woodland Warbler.
4 & 5 - obviously a juvenile thrush from the 'Olive' complex of species. I don't know enough about them to confirm. I suspect that Mountain Thrush is the default in the area, but this is surprising dark on the upperside.
Schalow's / Mourning has black down to the mid-breast. This bird has a very clear demarcation between the throat and the breast, and I can't see much rufous at all. Also Schalow's is Serengeti / Ngorongoro rather than Kilimanjaro / Arusha. But I'm willing to hear counterarguments of course.
Northern Brownbul that I have seen (a couple) aren't this rufous - but otherwise I pass on this.
I've never seen Brown Woodland Warbler, but if this is one, then the field guide authors really need to update their paintings to replace brown with yellow.
In the previous thread where this was posted, Mountain was the answer, but I think that Notuswinner has re-posted hoping that someone will ID it as Usumbara or Taita. If someone with a lot of local knowledge did this, it would of course be OK, but for most of us, I think dark Mountain Thrush is as far as we can go.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Just read the HBW description of Taita which is said to have an 'almost completely black tail'. Poor light I know but this bird does seem to have a black tail?
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Well it's clearly not an adult.
I had a quick look on line just to remind me - the last one I saw this year was a dark morph.
Try
https://africanbirdclub.org/afbid/search/browse/species/2610
Nik Borrows bird from Arusha seems very similar to me
Again a quick look at the Olive Thrush complex photos on the web shows Juvenile's with dark bills - although this is not consistent. The only photo I have come across for Taita Thrush shows a pale bill.
Doesn't seem to be a diagnostic feature - perhaps like our blackbirds it is variable but a tendency for the males to be paler at a young age.
I have looked again at the photo and I believe that the greenish hue is from the surrounding vegetation not the bird itself. I would agree that is is a paler bird - but from my experience of the species in the field they are quite variable in the colouration. Taking a Palearctic view they almost range from chiffchaff to smoky warbler in tonal density.
The key thing is the bit you can't see in the photo - the bright yellow primary fringing is very distinctive.However there is a hint from the alula and the top of the RH wing.
Tib78
Well-known member
1 has to be a Schalow's wheatear with that rufous tail base and short primary projection, but it is an interesting individual and I don't remember seeing one quite like that even though I was sound recording a singing male just yesterday near Arusha. It would appear that, as with others species of wheatear, there exists a dark throated form of female Schalow's...which would be new to me.
2 is indeed Cabani's and 3 a Brown woodland warbler
A location would help for the thrush.
2 is indeed Cabani's and 3 a Brown woodland warbler
A location would help for the thrush.
Notuswinner
Well-known member
Thank you for your professional guidance.
Notuswinner
Well-known member
Thanks！
Notuswinner
Well-known member
Thank you for your professional guidance.
Notuswinner
Well-known member
Thank you for your professional guidance.
Notuswinner
Well-known member
Thank you for your professional guidance.
Notuswinner
Well-known member
So,I think:
1、Pied Wheatear;
2、Cabanis's Greenbul;
3、Brown woodland warbler;
4,5、a juvenile Olive thrush,I saw a Olive thrush at the same place.
Thanks everyone!
1、Pied Wheatear;
2、Cabanis's Greenbul;
3、Brown woodland warbler;
4,5、a juvenile Olive thrush,I saw a Olive thrush at the same place.
Thanks everyone!
Larry Sweetland
Formerly 'Larry Wheatland'
Can you tell us where you saw these birds? It would make it easy to exclude some options if you narrow it down down. Especially the thrush, when "Arusha and Kilimanjaro" could mean anything.
If Tib says it's Schalow's, then I'm sure it is, even if it's a pattern he hasn't come across. I thought that Schalow's had to have black much lower down the breast, but if Tib says otherwise that's good enough for me. Muppit17 also thought Schalow's.
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