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Help with Australian Bird ID - Historic Cased Taxidermy (1 Viewer)

H

H.Clarke1990

Member
Hi All,

I hope that it is ok to post here, but I'm wondering whether someone might be able to help me ID a bird in a historic taxidermy case?

I work for the University of Aberdeen Museums, and am currently trying to update a specimen record for a case of Australian birds. I've managed all except the one on the bottom right of the case, with the yellow crest and white brow bar.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks in Advance,

Hannah
 

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Hello Hannah,
can you measure this one? Is there any clue whether the bill color is correct or not?

Niels
 
Having great difficulty equating this with an Australian species. The yellow crest reminds me of a tyrant flycatcher, but other respects looks a bit like a babbler. I'm stuck... ...Any info about where it might have been collected?
 
Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for such quick replies!

I've measured as best I can, and it seems to be 165mm from tip of beak to tip of tail. The beak colour looks natural to me, and doesn't appear to have been overpainted. Its a slightly pinkish colour.

All the other birds in the case appear to be Australian species: Kookuburra, Budgie, Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike, Australian King Parrot, Paradise Parrot, Scaly Breasted Lorikeet and Spotted Parladote.

It does seem like the feathers on the breast were a faint yellow/ green, but given that it might be 100 or so years old, these have now faded to an almost yellow/ grey colour. THE_FERN, I also couldn't find any Australian species that seemed to fit the bill!

Thanks again for all of your help!

Hannah
 
It has to be a Honeyeater doesn't it, though I can't account for the apparent crest, can you discern the colour of the eye ring?
 
Last edited:
Andy Adcock said:
It has to be a Honeyeater doesn't it, though I can't account for the apparent crest, can you discern the colour of the eye ring?
Click to expand...
Are we sure about that? Bill doesn't look much like a honeyeater to me---looks quite robust. Doesn't immediately remind me of other Australasian species (PNG, NZ etc) either. But happy to be proved wrong!
 
THE_FERN said:
Are we sure about that? Bill doesn't look much like a honeyeater to me---looks quite robust. Doesn't immediately remind me of other Australasian species (PNG, NZ etc) either. But happy to be proved wrong!
Click to expand...
Look at e.g juv White-throated Honeyeater but you could be right. If it is an Aussie species, I have no idea what it is, Pipit?
 
Hannah, could you please post a higher resolution pic of the bird in question? It's hard to discern details and it may help identifying it. Thanks in advance.
 
Doesn't look like any bird I can recall seeing pictures of, or seeing, from anywhere. I think the length should exclude any of those Aussie honeyeaters with a white band round the nape (it's a bit too big). And the bill does look odd for a Honeyeater too. Can the bill colour be trusted in such an old specimen? Surley nothing in Aus has a yellow crest like that? Any chance it's been fabricated in some way? Quite a precious display if there's a Paradise Parrot in it.
 
Impressed by Paradise Parrot in the display! I think the mystery may be an old and faded Melithreptus honeyeater, maybe a juvenile Brown-headed or possibly Strong-billed Honeyeater, both of which have yellowish bills. I think the crest may be an artefact of preparation perhaps? Any provenance on the specimen at all?
 
Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm currently working from home, so wont be able to get into the collection again until next week. I'll see if I can take a better image then. This actually came about because I was taking an image for a PHD student who is focusing their research on the paradise parrot. It turns out that we actually have three specimens in the collection, which is quite exciting!

It does look a little similar to the melithreptus honeyeaters, but the bill almost looks to straight to be either of these. Having said that, it does share similarities to the strong-billed honeyeater as sicklebill mentions...

I'll upload more images as soon as I can.

Thanks Again!

Hannah
 
H.Clarke1990 said:
Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm currently working from home, so wont be able to get into the collection again until next week. I'll see if I can take a better image then. This actually came about because I was taking an image for a PHD student who is focusing their research on the paradise parrot. It turns out that we actually have three specimens in the collection, which is quite exciting!

It does look a little similar to the melithreptus honeyeaters, but the bill almost looks to straight to be either of these. Having said that, it does share similarities to the strong-billed honeyeater as sicklebill mentions...

I'll upload more images as soon as I can.

Thanks Again!

Hannah
Click to expand...
A close up of any eye ring colour might help too.
 
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No Larry, the size in Morcombe is given as 15-17 cm, (The Aus Bird Guide of course doesn't deign to give us body length but decrees we must all use wing length !) and compared to the Black-faced Cuckooshrike it looks reasonable.
I'd love to see a shot of one ir more of those Pradise Parrots too Hannah if feasible.
 
sicklebill said:
No Larry, the size in Morcombe is given as 15-17 cm, (The Aus Bird Guide of course doesn't deign to give us body length but decrees we must all use wing length !) and compared to the Black-faced Cuckooshrike it looks reasonable.
I'd love to see a shot of one ir more of those Pradise Parrots too Hannah if feasible.
Click to expand...
That would seem like a place to start then 👍
 
John_WA said:
Would like a bigger picture but I'm reasonably confident that is not an Australian bird
Click to expand...
Hi John! Next year's trip to OZ is off... Meanwhile back to the picture, I'm thinking of a Coral-billed Scimitar-Babbler coming into its first adult plumage...
MJB
 
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