Tristan R said:Hmmmmm
If some petrosus can show features similar to littoralis during winter, then surely the best we can do (in winter) is say that a bird 'shows characteristics of' littoralis?
Regards
Tristan
Nutcracker said:I doubt any petrosus would ever look this brightly supercilliummed (have I just invented a new word??) in winter.
This is generally true of course, however I understand that some petrosus do show characteristics similar to littoralis in winter. This obviously blurrs the issue somewhat, which is why I suggest (during winter) using the 'shows characteristics of' conclusion!Nutcracker said:Probably right on the 'shows characteristics of' conclusion, but it is more the other way round, a lot of littoralis, but not all, look like normal petrosus. But I doubt any petrosus would ever look this brightly supercilliummed (have I just invented a new word??) in winter.
Jane Turner said:However I believe that this and they were mostly likely littoralis. I'd be even more impressed if it wasn't on a Rocky shore
Nutcracker said:Given the relative population sizes, it's likely that littoralis outnumbers petrosus by about 5:1 in Britain in winter. We ought to be more concerned about trying to identify definite petrosus! (not sure if that can be done in winter, though)
Nutcracker said:Plenty of littoralis breed on rocky shores - most of the 300,000-strong Norwegian population, and quite a few of the Swedish, they're not all on muddy Baltic shores!
Given the relative population sizes, it's likely that littoralis outnumbers petrosus by about 5:1 in Britain in winter. We ought to be more concerned about trying to identify definite petrosus! (not sure if that can be done in winter, though)
That's typical of the guesswork we hear all the time.Mike Pennington said:At the moment I would assume that these two birds are at the extreme end of petrosus.
CJW said:That's typical of the guesswork we hear all the time.
I reckon we get to see more Rock Pipits, throughout the year, than any other region in the British Isles and the increase in numbers from late September onwards is quite dramatic. Many of these 'incoming' birds, I would say, are littoralis.
None of our resident birds EVER show a combination of such prominent supers, white outer TFs and reduced breast smudging.