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More museum blasts from the past.. (3 Viewers)

1. looks like a female green honeycreeper
2 I would suggest a furnarid or woodcreeper.

Rob

Yeah! Might be. You can never tell what the taxidermists will do with a pose. It's actually labelled as a "Corvinella cissoides", a very old synonym for "Corvinella corvina" - the African Yellow-billed Shrike (which it ain't!). If it does prove to be a Woodcreeper (Dendrocolaptinae) it means they have the continent wrong as well!

Back in the 19th Century, if you were setting up a museum or a Wunderkamera you used to be able to order mounted birds by the dozen from dealers... two dozen "African birds" or a gross (144) from Brazil. The scrupulousness of the dealers has to be suspect.
 
I agree with the Woodcreeper suggestion, looks fine to me. I wonder how much the age of the specimen in this instance affects the bill colour? Many of the streak-headed species have very pale bills, this one reminds me of Planalto (not that I'm saying it is) which in life would show a dark bill. Could be worth posting some measurements and hope that Rasmus et.al come along
 
>>Could be worth posting some measurements and hope that Rasmus et.al come along

I'm back in the museum tomorrow and will do that.
 
>>Could be worth posting some measurements and hope that Rasmus et.al come along

I'm back in the museum tomorrow and will do that.

In addition to total length, wing & bill are the ones to go for. That said, while I have measurements for a large percentage of the South American woodcreepers, I'm missing measurements for most Central American. Regardless, it is also worth checking details of markings on mantle and chest/belly (extend, shape, detail [e.g. spots with/without dark edges] of streaks/spots/bars). For the others, the 1st is actually a female Blue Dacnis (which indeed looks quite similar to a female Green Honeycreeper, but with diff. bill and blue-tinged head) and the last is an Opal-rumped Tanager ssp. cyanomelaena (= "Silvery-breasted Tanager").
 
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the man in the pi (you?)

me...

has the same australia bird book as me

not at lot of Oz specimens but the ones there are are all clearly labelled so the guide is perfect. The old mounted neo-afro tropicals are the worst (label-wise) whereas almost all the Asian stuff has a locality even if unidentified. You can never be sure though. I found a Zebra Finch (Oz) and an Orange-cheeked manakin (W Africa) on the same branch the other day!
 
Hello Tooty

A while back you posted to shots of a couple of 'Satin Bowerbirds' from Australia. If my memory is correct the birds looked 'wrong' for that species, could you please point me towards them. Adult male birds don't have black beaks and are 'chubbier' though I guess being stuffed in boxes isn't exactly the best way to keep your shape.

Cheers!

Dimitris
 
Hello Tooty

I don't 'toot' anymore ... it doesn't agree with me!

A while back you posted to shots of a couple of 'Satin Bowerbirds' from Australia. If my memory is correct the birds looked 'wrong' for that species, could you please point me towards them. Adult male birds don't have black beaks and are 'chubbier' though I guess being stuffed in boxes isn't exactly the best way to keep your shape.
Dimitris

They're here:

http://www.birdforum.net/blog.php?b=976

ToUty
 
Hello Tooty

A while back you posted to shots of a couple of 'Satin Bowerbirds' from Australia. If my memory is correct the birds looked 'wrong' for that species, could you please point me towards them. Adult male birds don't have black beaks and are 'chubbier' though I guess being stuffed in boxes isn't exactly the best way to keep your shape.

Cheers!

Dimitris

Yes, that's the one I called a "manucode sp":

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=128550

In response, he said both were Metallic Starlings (which admittedly I found odd, since the first still looks like a manucode to me, but specimens stored for long periods can end up looking pretty strange)... but perhaps he didn't know I was responding to the one above the "double-photo" of the starling?
 
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I wonder how much the age of the specimen in this instance affects the bill colour?

Difficult to say in this case, but the difference can be quite striking in some cases. To take an example, check any pre-rediscovery illustration/text description of the Cone-billed Tanager and you'll see/get a description of a bird with a dusky or blackish bill. That's how the type looks now. As anyone who've seen the living thing now would know, its bill is actually strikingly pale. Example:

Its BirdLife International page w. illustration that was made pre-rediscovery:
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=9217&m=0

Photo of the real thing:
http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2006/03/cone-billed_tanager.html
 
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In addition to total length, wing & bill are the ones to go for. That said, while I have measurements for a large percentage of the South American woodcreepers, I'm missing measurements for most Central American. QUOTE]

Overall length = 270mm
Max chord wing = 127mm
Beak diam (at the narices) = 9.5mm
Beak length (to feathers) = 29.5mm
Tail length = 175mm
Tarsus = 28mm

... so... looking at HBW it would appear to be a large (but not a very large) woodcreeper. Given the distribution of almost everything neotropical I'm finding in the stores (often widespread but almost always with ranges that include the Atlantic coast of Brazil) my money would be on the White-throated Woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes albicollis).
 
... so... looking at HBW it would appear to be a large (but not a very large) woodcreeper. Given the distribution of almost everything neotropical I'm finding in the stores (often widespread but almost always with ranges that include the Atlantic coast of Brazil) my money would be on the White-throated Woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes albicollis).

Could be a good bet,

and thanks for the rather informative links Rasmus ref. bill colour
 
Satin Bowerbird -> Crinkle-collared Manucode

Yes, that's the one I called a "manucode sp":

The two Satin Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus), labelled as such (and from "Queensland" as well) are not.
They are manucodes ... the Crinkle-collared Manucode (Manucodia chalybata) from Papua New Guinea and not present in Australia. I went down to the displays (closed to the public now) and found a third bird, correctly labelled for the display, but with the old "Satin Bowerbird - Ptilonorhynchus violaceus- Queensland" label.

I'd excluded the only Australian Manucode (Trumpet Manucode - Phonycammus (Manucodia) keraudrenii) ... also in the displays - believing the locality was true even if the ID was wrong. Just goes to show, you don't wanna believe all you read. Got there in the end. Thanks.
 
The two Satin Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus), labelled as such (and from "Queensland" as well) are not.
They are manucodes ... the Crinkle-collared Manucode (Manucodia chalybata) from Papua New Guinea and not present in Australia. I went down to the displays (closed to the public now) and found a third bird, correctly labelled for the display, but with the old "Satin Bowerbird - Ptilonorhynchus violaceus- Queensland" label.

I'd excluded the only Australian Manucode (Trumpet Manucode - Phonycammus (Manucodia) keraudrenii) ... also in the displays - believing the locality was true even if the ID was wrong. Just goes to show, you don't wanna believe all you read. Got there in the end. Thanks.

Glad you got them Touty, sorry for mispelling your name.

Cheers!

Dimitris
 
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