Identification help with a phoenicurus from Finland (1 Viewer)

[Hannu Varkki]

I was going through my old photos and found this. It´s taken in central Finland, Vaala. My first impression was that it´s a juvenile Phoenicurus phoenicurus. But today I started to wonder the grayish color of the bird. Could it be a Phoenicurus ochruros? That´s rather rare in central Finland.
Any views?
Hannu from Finland

 

[Hannu Varkki]

Steve, I think it´s a meadow pipit Anthus pratensis. But could you start a new thread with your question

 

[stevecbrum]

Steve, I think it´s a meadow pipit Anthus pratensis. But could you start a new thread with your question

Thanks Hannu - some of the features looked good for tree pipit

 

[stevecbrum]

Steve, I think it´s a meadow pipit Anthus pratensis. But could you start a new thread with your question

Ooops - sorry! Have reposted.

 

[stevethehydra]

I assume the photo must have been changed because that's definitely a Redstart sp, no pipit has a tail like that! Which one is another question though... I'd lean towards female type Common over Black because on my monitor it seems too "warm" toned/not "grey" enough, but certainly wouldn't want to claim 100% certainty...

 

[Hannu Varkki]

Steve - stevecbrum posted his photo of a meadow pipit to my thread, that´s why were talking about pipits...

About the id: I now think it´s a common redstart. I still see there are odd gray parts on the bird but on the whole it´s not as gray as a black redstart would be. On the head, wings and chest there are also brown feathers in between and "under" gray. And yes, it´s not a juvenile common redstart, that´s for sure. Thanks for help.

 

[rosbifs]

Steve - stevecbrum posted his photo of a meadow pipit to my thread, that´s why were talking about pipits...

About the id: I now think it´s a common redstart. I still see there are odd gray parts on the bird but on the whole it´s not as gray as a black redstart would be. On the head, wings and chest there are also brown feathers in between and "under" gray. And yes, it´s not a juvenile common redstart, that´s for sure. Thanks for help.

I only see Juv Common Redstart.....

 

[Hannu Varkki]

Rosbifs, how can you tell it´s juv?

 

[rosbifs]

The bill and eyes look pretty big. Also the inside of the bill looks yellow - young birds have yellow skin around the base.

The feathers look 'downy' to me. Tail fethers a little pointed.

What you need is a ringing expert to tell you.

Hope i'm not too far wrong but i'm not an expert in these areas...

 

[phil baber]

Female, or developed juvenile, Common Redstart for me...

 

[cameron2]

Yep, defiantly a fem type common redstart

 

[Hannu Varkki]

Thanks for the advice So it´s a common redstart, female or juv. After I had posted this thread I found many photos of grayish common redstarts from the net, they just didn´t exist in my Handbook (Svesson-Mullarney-Zetterström). And when you look at photo more precisely, the bird is not so gray after all.
Common redstart is very typical to my homeplace Vaala, living in the pine forests there. A wonderful bird.