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Mystery bunting - Turkey (1 Viewer)

Mystery bunting

Hello everyone. We have a mystery bunting record from Ankara, Turkey. You can see the photo of the bird by clicking the links below. The photos were taken on 31th of October at 1300m altitude in a semi-forested, semi-alpine area. Please help us identify this bird. Me and my friends do have some guesses but we won't share any here in order not ot affect your judgement in any way. Thanks in advance.

https://postimg.org/image/n14wxonlp/

https://postimg.org/image/nd333sqsj/
 
It looks like Little Bunting but the bill looks wrong. Culmen is convex and should be straight or slightly concave in Little Bunting. The ear covert spot suggests Pine Bunting?
 
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I'd like to kick this round a bit more - the eye ring looks weak, the ear coverts not overly chestnut the bill heavy and the lesser coverts amazingly grey. There is something rather Reed-bunting about the general appearance (though the ear covert spot is too prominent in addition to the apparently grey l.coverts)
 
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Little Bunting vs Reed Bunting is something that I have had cause to study up on recently. Photo quality makes this hard because I can't quite pick out if the culmen is straight or not. And of course the crown is not shown.

In favour of Little Bunting however, is the distinct whitish wing bar with the greyish patch above it. Also, the legs appear nice and pink; typical of adult summer/first winter. Again hard to tell from the photo, but to my eye, there does appear to be a fine eye ring.

Face markings and colouring are a little weak, but that may be photo quality in the case of the colouring.

I'm not experienced enough to say yes or no, but my thoughts favour Little Bunting based on available evidence.
 
Graham, that's what I was thinking. The bill just doesn't seem right. That culmen is what made me think this bird is not a little bunting. I would expect a straight culmen and a more pointed beak if the bird was a little bunting.

Jane, it's really hard to tell if lesser coverts are grey or not. The photo quality is very bad. But what I can say is this bird cannot be a reed bunting (like you said in my friend's post - we both posted the same bird without knowing about it) as the habitat is far from being suitable for them.
 
We have come to conclusion that the ear spot, coloring on mantle and lesser coverts, beak and all the other things point to a pine bunting. It is a rarity in Turkey and a good record for our university campus. 3rd ever in our campus! Thanks people.
 
We are not quite sure about the rump, Jane. Check my friend's thread to see the comparison we made and comment on it. Thanks very much for helping =)
 
So, what are your conclusions and why?

We think it is a pine bunting due to its ear spot, greyish mantle and lesser coverts, concave culmen, wing bar, eye ring.

What are your final calls?
 
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