Spadebill, French Guiana (1 Viewer)

[opisska]

I am reasonably sure that this is Platyrinchus, but is it Cinnamon-crested, Golden-crowned or White-throated? Is it even possible from this angle?

 

[njlarsen]

I am reasonably sure that this is Platyrinchus, but is it Cinnamon-crested, Golden-crowned or White-throated? Is it even possible from this angle?

View attachment 1623906

I do not have an appropriate field guide for the area, but using one from Brazil, Cinnamon-crested is much more uniform in the face.

Check photos of the other two species for broadness of the dark area above the eye, if the field guide is right that would make me lean Golden-crowned.
Niels

 

[opisska]

Yeah you're right, Golden-crowned looks best on photos, White-throated seems to always have stronger markings on face. Also ... white throat - hard to see here, but probably not present?

 

[THE_FERN]

Golden-crowned. Note the loral area: on golden-crowned, the whole area around the bill is yellowish. In white-faced there is a dark loral line connecting the below-eye black smudge (so golden-crowned has a more "open" face)

 

[opisska]

Yep, I see it now in pictures as well. Thanks to both, this is a really cool bird to have.

 

[THE_FERN]

[Have added ID criteria to opus for these 2 (white-throated/g-crowned). Generally good to do this... ...Anyone can]

 

[kb57]

Just to note Golden-crowned is far commoner than P. platyrhynchos in FG (white-throated / crested) and the illustration in Oiseaux de Guyane confirms it isn't cinnamon-crested.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Merlin says Golden-crowned Spadebill. Just saying... 😀

 

[kb57]

It's still nice to look in an actual book sometimes though

 

[Paul Chapman]

It's still nice to look in an actual book sometimes though

Only ever as guidance but it is useful to get from headscratching to checking images for features! Of course, occasionally, it produces lunatic results.

All the best

Paul

 

[THE_FERN]

It's still nice to look in an actual book sometimes though

But only on your phone...

 

[kb57]

But only on your phone...

Not with my eyesight, coupled with my iPhone Mini!

 

[kb57]

I rest my case...all three species discussed on this thread, on the same page

 

[opisska]

I didn't even notice that Marlin had ID for photos, but I get machine learning suggestions for everything from iNat anyway. It's pretty good in getting drab birds in the right direction, because it "sees" things beyond just color pattern - it's clearly much better than me in judging the "jizz" and getting the correct family or genus, but it is not very reliable at species level (and it simply lacks the ability to suggest species that have very few observations as it can't be trained on them). It also clearly "cheats" by using the entire image, not just isolating the animal, so if something is often found on a specific plant, it can then ID everything else on that plant wrong - thus specifically isn't a big problem for birds, but for example our nighttime birds really confuse it and it sometimes confidently says "southern oppossum"

 

[THE_FERN]

I rest my case...all three species discussed on this thread, on the same page

Only 2/3 discussed here (white-crested isn't the same as white-throated, and doesn't look like golden-crowned). Surely against forum rules which state should be English...

 

[kb57]

Only 2/3 discussed here (white-crested isn't the same as white-throated, and doesn't look like golden-crowned). Surely against forum rules which state should be English...

I think it would be helpful sometimes if we referenced scientific names as well as English, just to be sure what species we're talking about - I thought the OP was referring to white-crested (which obvs. has a white throat), because white-throated doesn't occur in French Guiana. My mistake.

Please tell me you're joking that posting a picture of a book with French text (and English species names) is against forum rules ...all the discussion on this thread apart from my reference to P. platyrhynchos has been in English...

 

[THE_FERN]

I think it would be helpful sometimes if we referenced scientific names as well as English, just to be sure what species we're talking about - I thought the OP was referring to white-crested (which obvs. has a white throat), because white-throated doesn't occur in French Guiana. My mistake.

Please tell me you're joking that posting a picture of a book with French text (and English species names) is against forum rules ...all the discussion on this thread apart from my reference to P. platyrhynchos has been in English...

Yes I was...