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What's this bird?

wildlife, gardening, environment, Rural living, Pets and Vets
zico
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What's this bird?

#301545

Postby zico » April 18th, 2020, 2:21 pm

Can anyone help me identify the following bird - I've looked in a fairly big bird book, and didn't find anything that seemed like it.

I saw this bird perching on fence-posts in open farmland, occasionally popping down to the ground for a minute or so, and then back to the fence-post. It wasn't particularly skittish, and I got within about 50 metres of it before it flew a bit further away. It was a solitary bird.
Grey/pink colouration seemed very similar to nuthatch markings, though it was a neater and more streamlined bird than a nuthatch. It had a distinctive "bandit" black mask on its face and a thin neat beak. It was about the size of a wagtail (maybe a bit thinner).

Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions?

mike
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Re: What's this bird?

#301575

Postby mike » April 18th, 2020, 4:14 pm

zico wrote:Can anyone help me identify the following bird - I've looked in a fairly big bird book, and didn't find anything that seemed like it.

I saw this bird perching on fence-posts in open farmland, occasionally popping down to the ground for a minute or so, and then back to the fence-post. It wasn't particularly skittish, and I got within about 50 metres of it before it flew a bit further away. It was a solitary bird.
Grey/pink colouration seemed very similar to nuthatch markings, though it was a neater and more streamlined bird than a nuthatch. It had a distinctive "bandit" black mask on its face and a thin neat beak. It was about the size of a wagtail (maybe a bit thinner).

Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions?


A red backed shrike perhaps ?

Itsallaguess
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Re: What's this bird?

#301577

Postby Itsallaguess » April 18th, 2020, 4:25 pm

I was thinking it might have been a Nuthatch, given the Grey/Pink colouration mentioned, but you seem to think that it was different to that bird -

Image

Image Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuthatch

The other one based on the physical description might have been a Wheatear, but the colouration doesn't quite suit as much -

Image

Image Source - https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Northern_Wheatear

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

zico
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Re: What's this bird?

#301605

Postby zico » April 18th, 2020, 5:56 pm

Thanks for responses. Yes, it was definitely a wheatear. Your photo looks far more like the bird I saw (right colours) than the wheatear picture in my bird book.
Mike, I've seen a red-backed shrike once at Bempton cliffs, near Flamborough Head in Yorkshire.

colin
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Re: What's this bird?

#301634

Postby colin » April 18th, 2020, 7:25 pm

zico wrote:Thanks for responses. Yes, it was definitely a wheatear. Your photo looks far more like the bird I saw (right colours) than the wheatear picture in my bird book.
Mike, I've seen a red-backed shrike once at Bempton cliffs, near Flamborough Head in Yorkshire.

Wheatear is a polite version of the name it was commonly known by pr-victorian era which was whitearse because when it flies off from its perch the white tail feathers are noticeable.
Ps try writing the wordarse in a reply and see where you get?!

bungeejumper
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Re: What's this bird?

#301711

Postby bungeejumper » April 19th, 2020, 10:45 am

colin wrote:Ps try writing the wordarse in a reply and see where you get?!

Er, wordarse? :lol:

Try Fluffy-Backed Tit-Babbler? Penduline Tit? Or a plain old European Shag?

BJ

UncleEbenezer
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Re: What's this bird?

#301744

Postby UncleEbenezer » April 19th, 2020, 12:33 pm

bungeejumper wrote:
colin wrote:Ps try writing the wordarse in a reply and see where you get?!

Er, wordarse? :lol:

Try Fluffy-Backed Tit-Babbler? Penduline Tit? Or a plain old European Shag?

BJ

I suspect the word аrse was a reference to [expletive deleted]. But I'd settle for a cormorant.

colin
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Re: What's this bird?

#301809

Postby colin » April 19th, 2020, 6:40 pm

UncleEbenezer wrote:
bungeejumper wrote:
colin wrote:Ps try writing the wordarse in a reply and see where you get?!

Er, wordarse? :lol:

Try Fluffy-Backed Tit-Babbler? Penduline Tit? Or a plain old European Shag?

BJ

I suspect the word аrse was a reference to Pink marshmallows. But I'd settle for a cormorant.

Ok so how come you manged to write [expletive deleted] without it coming out as Pink marshmallows?

UncleEbenezer
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Re: What's this bird?

#301816

Postby UncleEbenezer » April 19th, 2020, 7:34 pm

colin wrote:
UncleEbenezer wrote:
bungeejumper wrote:Er, wordarse? :lol:

Try Fluffy-Backed Tit-Babbler? Penduline Tit? Or a plain old European Shag?

BJ

I suspect the word аrse was a reference to Pink marshmallows. But I'd settle for a cormorant.

Ok so how come you manged to write Pink marshmallows without it coming out as Pink marshmallows?

Because my аrse was to your [expletive deleted] as the nuthatch to the wheatear. They only look the same.

Try translate on Вот подсказка . Then look carefully.

colin
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Re: What's this bird?

#301844

Postby colin » April 19th, 2020, 11:17 pm

аrse ? Oh [expletive deleted]!


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