Sweden - can you ID a bird from this fairly bad description?! (1 Viewer)

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Natterjak

Active member

• Jun 21, 2018

• #1

Hi

Sorry haven't managed to snap a pic and my memory isn't fantastic but I'll try to describe the bird I've been seeing in the last few days:

This bird is the size of a chaffinch or sparrow and lands on the ground and pecks away feeding on what I suppose to be seeds.

The bird has a plain light grey or tan chest, a patch of grey on the back of the head and a light coloured beak which contrasts with its face. The shape of the beak is triangular and fairly large, but not as big as a hawfinch. Maybe the size of a sparrow's beak. The wings have two wide bars of white feathers in contrast to the mainly brown plumage on wings and back. The bird's call consists of single loud cries, about one per second.

The overall impression of the plumage is fairly fluffy, so it could be a newly fledged bird.

If anyone can point me in the right direction I would be grateful!

 

Last edited: Jun 21, 2018

esmondb

The fool that MrT doesn't pity

• Jun 21, 2018

• #2

Female common linnet?

 

N

Natterjak

Active member

• Jun 21, 2018

• #3

Thanks for your answer. I've checked some pics online and I don't think it's that one. The thick white bars on the wings are not present in that bird.

 

Valéry Schollaert

Respect animals, don't eat or wear their body or s

• Jun 21, 2018

• #4

esmondb said:

Female common linnet?

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The two wings bars are not really perfect for linnet, and the loud call neither. Loud calls, thick bill and wing bars better for Brambling.

 

esmondb

The fool that MrT doesn't pity

• Jun 21, 2018

• #5

Valéry Schollaert said:

The two wings bars are not really perfect for linnet, and the loud call neither. Loud calls, thick bill and wing bars better for Brambling.

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Yes, and would recall Chaffinch better than Linnet.

 

Deb Burhinus

Used to be well known! 😎

• Jun 21, 2018

• #6

Would be helpful if you describe the area - forest, farmland, urban garden?

Two Wide white wing bars with mainly brown plumage sounds like juvenile Chaffinch to me

(btw birds fluff up when cold, when threatened etc so not necessarily defining feature of fledglings. Light can drastically affect appearance of bill colour too!)

 

N

Natterjak

Active member

• Jun 21, 2018

• #7

Thanks for your suggestions.. the setting my back garden on the edge of woodland in central/southern Sweden. Young chaffinch is not impossible, but from the recordings I can find online the call of the chaffinch is more complex than what I heard.

I'll keep looking at pics and will of course try to photograph the bird if I see it again.

 

Valéry Schollaert

Respect animals, don't eat or wear their body or s

• Jun 21, 2018

• #8

Natterjak said:

Thanks for your suggestions.. the setting my back garden on the edge of woodland in central/southern Sweden. Young chaffinch is not impossible, but from the recordings I can find online the call of the chaffinch is more complex than what I heard.

I'll keep looking at pics and will of course try to photograph the bird if I see it again.

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You might be actually confusing the song of the chaffinch with its calls. Calls are simple, more are just a single note; song is more complex.

 

S

Sangahyando

Well-known member

• Jun 21, 2018

• #9

Valéry Schollaert said:

You might be actually confusing the song of the chaffinch with its calls. Calls are simple, more are just a single note; song is more complex.

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Yeah, and Chaffinches also make chirping calls when interacting with each other, particlarly during the breeding season.