Unknown small bird in a hilly area (alt ~600m/2000ft) in Romania (1 Viewer)

[catalin123]

Hi,

For some time now, I have noticed a small bird on my porch.
It is about 12-15cm (4,7- 6 inch) in size, has some shades of blue on the wings, walks in jumps like a sparrow, but it is not a sparrow.
It is a diurnal bird; I've saw it mainly during the day (more on that on the bird behavior forum )
Date of sighting : August, 01
Here is a quite poorly recorded video : http://youtu.be/c_MuTCcE9fk

What species can it be?

 

[tconzemi]

Black Redstart

 

[Jeff Turner]

I agree Black Redstart

Jeff

 

[catalin123]

Hi,

Thanx so much for your answers!
Do you know, by any chance, if these little birds usually fly at night?

Because for the past 2 weeks, I got them the entire night on my porch, either flying like a colibri, eating small insects around the light, or just standing there... the entire night.

(should I move this to be behavior thread?)

 

[tconzemi]

Hi,

Thanx so much for your answers!
Do you know, by any chance, if these little birds usually fly at night?

Because for the past 2 weeks, I got them the entire night on my porch, either flying like a colibri, eating small insects around the light, or just standing there... the entire night.

(should I move this to be behavior thread?)

leave it here
they are breeding inside porches building their nests inside any open building
and they are using every available food source, like flying insects around a light, but normally they are active at daytime

 

[catalin123]

I did suspect they have a nest somewhere very near, or they intend to.
I'm just afraid that they don't see very well during the night, and we do have cats that make regular rounds on the porch...also we have an owl that comes once per week, at exactly 4:30 in the morning, and eyeballs what I think to be a former/future nesting spot

 

[khustochka]

A bit offtopic

But this is how I became interested in birds. In August 2007 I noticed some birds perching and flying in my yard. I wanted to know who they were. Soon I bought a telephoto lens. Those were Black Redstarts. After that I started learning more about birds.

 

[Nutcracker]

Do you know, by any chance, if these little birds usually fly at night?

As an aside - yes, Black Redstarts do fly at night when migrating. But they (like many other related birds) can also feed in quite surprisingly low light levels - it wouldn't feed in a natural dark night, but a bright street light (or home security light) is enough for it to find food by.

 

[catalin123]

Here's a nice surprise:

click here to see the the bird up-close as animated gif

(sorry, i don't know how to embed it inline and the thumbnail bellow only contains the 1st frame)

 

[Phil Andrews]

Is this the bird you were referring to in your original post? The featured bird is a Great Tit.

 

[Jos Stratford]

Is this the bird you were referring to in your original post? The featured bird is a Great Tit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_MuTCcE9fk&feature=youtu.be

:t:

 

[Phil Andrews]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_MuTCcE9fk&feature=youtu.be

:t:

Helps if I had watched the original clip :-C

 

[catalin123]

I can only assume it's the same bird.
I have video recordings of low quality so the only things in common that they have - that I can see - is the size and fact that they stand in one place and do squats .
I was never able to see them with my own eyes for long enough to be able to describe them.

 

[Jos Stratford]

I can only assume it's the same bird.

They are not the same - you have two visitors to your porch, the first is a Black Redstart,the second Great Tit

 

[catalin123]

Ok, noted !

And there are in fact 2 other winged visitors : one species of owl (which comes once per week, at exactly 4:30 in the morning) and another slightly larger than the Great Tit, but with far longer tail.

Here is the owl:
(animated gif here)







The ledge on which it stands on is about 11,5 cm / 4,5 inch wide

An the other one (other ones?):
(youtube video here)



The deck piece on which it stands on is also about 11,5 cm / 4,5 inch wide

 

[Nutcracker]

Tawny Owl; Common Blackbird.

 

[catalin123]

I can't thank you enough!! Will post again if I have news

 

[catalin123]

Hi again,

This little guy wondered into the house last week





(he has been released safely)

 

[tconzemi]

A nice Great tit

 

[catalin123]

yep