Cetti's Warbler? Lunt UK (today 13th January) (1 Viewer)

[RichieTwitchy]

I'm fairly confident that it is, but id-ing warblers isn't the most easy at times - especially for us colour-blind birders!

So it looks good for Cetti's as it's pretty plain, has a pale supercilium and darker eye stripe with bright eye ring, upright tail and it was skulking around the middle of the bushes.

It didn't make it's familiar call, but it was making long crackling calls followed by shorter brief chirps.

Unfortunately I had a long 500 lens and the bird passed before me at pretty close range but I did managed to aim my camera and reel off a few shots before it disappeared again - hence the out of focus shots. The uploaded photos are cropped.

So just hoping for confirmation from you guys as I always hear these blimmin birds but never get to see them as they're always quick to duck back into cover as soon as I turn my head!

cheers

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello,
yes I agree with you, its a Cettis Warbler. Sad to hear of your colour-blindness, but we are here to help you.

 

[RichieTwitchy]

Thanks Alexander - you're always respectful and helpful and I always enjoy reading your detailed comments in this identification section of the forum.

I've learned a lot from your posts

 

[Prestdj]

you were lucky to get photos.....nice very shy blighters but very loud a couple have made me jump when they suddenly sing

 

[Richard D]

I'd be very happy with those photos. Hearing them is easy, but seeing the blighters isn't!

 

[RichieTwitchy]

Cheers guys - I think that because they are harder to see, I've developed a soft spot for them.

 

[Earnest lad]

Hello,
Sad to hear of your colour-blindness, but we are here to help you.

I believe it affects one in ten of males

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

I believe it affects one in ten of males

Hello Earnest,
I thought this was "only" (what a word here) the difficulties to differentiate between red and green, but thats very far away from a confident answer.

 

[RichieTwitchy]

My personal colour-blindness affects reds, browns, yellows and greens (and all hues in-between) and also blues, purples and (surprisingly) greens again!

I can see the difference in shades and brightness at times, but I can't determine the colours.

So when a person without colour-blindness sees a bird whose colouring consist of:
pale brown - I see what could be brown, green or yellow
purple - I see what looks like a block of blue but I cannot distinguish that that 'block' is purple or blue or violet or turquoise etc
green - again, I see what could be brown, green or yellow
red - I see what could be red, brown or green

I would have to try and remember that shade of that colour and then associate it with the 'named' colour.

Suffice to say, a bird's size, features, calls and behaviour REALLY helps!

So it's not that I see no colours - I see a multitude of colours but can't distinguish between many that are on a similar spectrum.

On the other hand, I can see subtler shades of colouring that people without colour-blindness can't - which always surprises them - but I still couldn't tell you what colour I am seeing just that it differs more greatly to me than it does them.

We won't hijack this thread any further - but maybe that'll offer people a perspective that they did not have on colour-blindness and the struggles birders 'afflicted' with this condition may suffer.

 

[_pauls]

My personal colour-blindness affects reds, browns, yellows and greens (and all hues in-between) and also blues, purples and (surprisingly) greens again!

I can see the difference in shades and brightness at times, but I can't determine the colours.

So when a person without colour-blindness sees a bird whose colouring consist of:
pale brown - I see what could be brown, green or yellow
purple - I see what looks like a block of blue but I cannot distinguish that that 'block' is purple or blue or violet or turquoise etc
green - again, I see what could be brown, green or yellow
red - I see what could be red, brown or green

I would have to try and remember that shade of that colour and then associate it with the 'named' colour.

Suffice to say, a bird's size, features, calls and behaviour REALLY helps!

So it's not that I see no colours - I see a multitude of colours but can't distinguish between many that are on a similar spectrum.

On the other hand, I can see subtler shades of colouring that people without colour-blindness can't - which always surprises them - but I still couldn't tell you what colour I am seeing just that it differs more greatly to me than it does them.

We won't hijack this thread any further - but maybe that'll offer people a perspective that they did not have on colour-blindness and the struggles birders 'afflicted' with this condition may suffer.

I'm also colour-blind and have similar issues but I find the hardest part of it is that, for example, there might be something that is really vivid orange (to most people) but against a green backdrop I simply wont differentiate it if the green is of an equivalent tone. It is more of an issue with butterflies than birds to be honest.

It does mean though that in terms of picking things out sometimes I rely on spotting movement to draw my attention where the colour might be what alerts people with normal colour vision.

I remember meeting up with someone and being stood next to a cottoneaster bush laden with berries. My friend was marvelling at the vividness of the red berries - until that point I hadn't even seen the berries as they were a dark red against dark green leaves.

 

[Julie50]

Hi all,

More male humans are colour blind because one of the genes which codes for seeing colour is on the X chromosome. Males only have one X and females have 2, so are more likely to have a gene that does not affect seeing colour.

 

[fdokykcu]

My personal colour-blindness affects reds, browns, yellows and greens (and all hues in-between) and also blues, purples and (surprisingly) greens again!

I can see the difference in shades and brightness at times, but I can't determine the colours.

So when a person without colour-blindness sees a bird whose colouring consist of:
pale brown - I see what could be brown, green or yellow
purple - I see what looks like a block of blue but I cannot distinguish that that 'block' is purple or blue or violet or turquoise etc
green - again, I see what could be brown, green or yellow
red - I see what could be red, brown or green

I would have to try and remember that shade of that colour and then associate it with the 'named' colour.

Suffice to say, a bird's size, features, calls and behaviour REALLY helps!

So it's not that I see no colours - I see a multitude of colours but can't distinguish between many that are on a similar spectrum.

On the other hand, I can see subtler shades of colouring that people without colour-blindness can't - which always surprises them - but I still couldn't tell you what colour I am seeing just that it differs more greatly to me than it does them.

We won't hijack this thread any further - but maybe that'll offer people a perspective that they did not have on colour-blindness and the struggles birders 'afflicted' with this condition may suffer.

I'm also colour-blind and have similar issues but I find the hardest part of it is that, for example, there might be something that is really vivid orange (to most people) but against a green backdrop I simply wont differentiate it if the green is of an equivalent tone. It is more of an issue with butterflies than birds to be honest.

It does mean though that in terms of picking things out sometimes I rely on spotting movement to draw my attention where the colour might be what alerts people with normal colour vision.

I remember meeting up with someone and being stood next to a cottoneaster bush laden with berries. My friend was marvelling at the vividness of the red berries - until that point I hadn't even seen the berries as they were a dark red against dark green leaves.

Being colour-blind myself I agree completely with the experiences mentioned by RichieTwitchy and _pauls. The cotoneaster berries example is a perfect one! I also concur that you learn to focus in another set of differences, as well as subtles combinations of shades, hues, etc which our brain automatically associates to red (or other) colour. It may sound funny, but frequently I find myself pointing to a less experience birder "is the one with the red bill" or "they are so beautiful with those red heads"... Anyway, there are a few situations (for instance, the female yellowhammer/cirl bunting pair ) that make ID really challenging, but in the end they are not very frequent and is not a big deal to impair nice birding. As someone has pointed out before, around 7-8% of male birders (in Europe, it changes around the world) are colour-blind, and as it is difficult to notice that unless they tell you, maybe you have been with one already. Female birders are nearly devoid of this sex-linked defficiency (0'4% is the mean value) so in doubt I always ask women about colours!

And of course I have always received here comprehension when asking about a colour issue, so I am very grateful to Birdforum

 

[Earnest lad]

Hello Earnest,
I thought this was "only" (what a word here) the difficulties to differentiate between red and green, but thats very far away from a confident answer.

Thank you for your as ever kind reply. I have slight issues with red-green too LOL. According to the following test I am a Mild Deutan. "This type of red-green colour blindness has the green cones in the eye detect too much red light and not enough green light" EnChroma Color Blind Test
"deutan color blindness can make reds, greens, yellows and browns appear similar to one another." - not too good I think with some sorts of birds where their colours are subtle and blended eg a Bee-eaters of which there can be several species to choose which one it is.