Would appreciate help IDing this little bird at Blackburn Lake. Light conditions were very bad, hence the shot has been heavily worked... can anyone make sense of this one?
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No idea, but it's either a juvenile or it's just had a bath :)
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Exactly my thoughts Timmo - (lokks like it just had a bath) Thanks for your comment.
Its bill looks a bit like that of a sittella... ????
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
I think soakes is on the money with this one, probably a young varied sitella. Would explain the bill shape, head shape, size and apparent development of barring of the undertail.
Thanks Soakes and Amateur... On reflection I suspect you're both on the money... (Frank B)
i'm not sure what it is but Varied Sittellas have been locally extinct in Melbourne suburbia for many years.
indeed eBird records indicate that they were last recorded in the area (Blackburn) in the 1940s!
the tail looks too long for a sittella to me and something about it doesn't sit right. also note how sittellas have wings and tail equal length. also the bill to me doesn't look quite upturned enough. looks to be more like an Acanthizidae member imo, thornbill or gerygone.
No idea what it is but it is not a Varied Sittella.
Here is a pic of a 2 day fledged one in Canberra, the bill is staight but very short.
And here is a older juvenile taken near Lake Cargelligo (different race), the bill is about the same length as your bird but clearly shows the upturn of a Sittella.
Also note the wings as Zosterops states.
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Mhmm I'll concur with that. Interesting point on the wing/tail length in relation to each other, I've never really taken that into account when looking at characteristics of birds, but you learn something new everyday! Sorry I don't think I can be much help frank!
I think Buff-rumped Thornbill would be by far the best match. However, there seems to be a slight browline there- I would have said weebill but the beak shape rules that out. Gerygones are another possibility, as well as some other similar thornbills that I haven't seen before which I don't know if you get down there. Anyway, try buff-rumped thornbill and tell me what you think
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
Buff-rumped Thornbills are also locally extinct, again last seen in the 1940s, though may be possible as a vagrant straggler.
Brown Thornbill is commonest locally, but the white in the tail has thrown me..
some gerygones seem to have white tail tips,
Actually the Buff-rumped does have white tail tip
http://canberrabirds.org.au/wp-content/gallery/buff-rumped_thornbill/Thornbill_Buff-rumped%
20(David%20Cook).jpg
(not sure why hyperlink is not working, copy paste into browser)
http://ibc.lynxeds.com/files/pictures/2012_01_09_Acanthiza_reguloides1.jpg
hopefully it is as this would be a great sighting for the area.
Actually could it also possibly be a western gerygone? Would also explain the white-black-white barring of the tail I think
Source: http://www.graemechapman.com.au/library/viewphotos.php?c=200
Just noticed that the adult Buff-rumped Thornbill has a white eye, though the juvenile seems to have a brown eye according to Pizzey & Knight. The bird in the picture appears to have a brown eye? could be a lighting/resolution/monitor issue.
Gerygones have red eyes, though again juveniles seem to have brown.
Gerygones are not resident in the area and would be exceedingly rare, Western has only a handful of vagrant records in the general area though it does resemble the bird in the picture.
but note how it has some black tips
http://www.wildandendangered.com.au/img/s/v-3/p1213805060-3.jpg
http://www.birdlifemelbourne.org.au/bird-lists/56-Gerygones/Western%20Gerygone/Western%20Gerygone%20Chiltern-Mt%20Pilot%20N%20P%20(JB).jpg
Brown Gerygone are found in the dandenong ranges, but note again how the tail despite having white ends in black
http://birdsinbackyards.net/forum/Brown-gerygone-sea
http://birdway.com.au/acanthizidae/brown_gerygone/source/image/brown_gerygone_30270.jpg
The tip of the tail on the OP bird appears to have a slight blackish tinge but only on the end of the top two feathers, others seem to be white??
Yeah I noticed the slightly black tips, but to be honest I couldn't find any photo's of juveniles or notes on them in guides so I've no idea how the tail feathers plumage develops
Maybe it's an overexposed Brown Thornbill (but the bill appears too long to me) and there is an apparent lack of any frontal markings or buff colouration, also the body plumage colour seems too pale to me. but note how it can have black in the tail
http://birdway.com.au/acanthizidae/brown_thornbill/source/image/brown_thornbill_128664.jpg
http://www.australavianimages.com/gallery3/var/resizes/acanthizids/SB_017145_Cavan_Woolshed_NSW_cropped_800b.jpg?m=1402178318
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~chrisx2/images/BrownThornbill3.jpg
http://barwonbluff.com.au/wp-content/uploads/brown_thornbill_3.jpg
maybe it's an overexposed juvenile Brown Thornbill, that would explain the lack of body colouration. but note the bi-coloured bill on the bird in the below link which seems shorter and thicker to me.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Brown_Thornbill.jpg
He did mention it's a heavily edited photo due to the poor light conditions, it does seem to have a very slight buff colouring on the underside but that just could be the lighting. The only thing that bugs me about a thornbill is when I think thornbill, I think of a very plump and round bird, a feature that tends to usually be exacerbated in younger birds (from what I've seen). The bird in the photo though seems to have quite an extended neck from where I expect the the top of the wing is which would be more indicative of a gerygone rather than a thornbill. Although it should be noted I haven't properly observed a buff rumped/brown thornbill for a long time, nor even seen a western gerygone in person and alot of judgements about stature come from such observations.
it seems juvenile gerygones can start out without the black terminal tail tips, but see how short the bill is and how the black markings around the eye have already started to develop (seemingly absent in the OP bird)
http://www.mdahlem.net/img/ozbirds/17/brgery_1920_big.jpg
I'm wondering if some of the feathers typically concealing the base of the bill are fluffed up giving it the illusion of a longer bill as well, because it does seem exceptionally long
It does appear to have the elongated body of a Gerygone, but it seems the bill is too long and both candidate species have black around the eye which is developed in juvenile birds.
Also perhaps the fluffed up feathers could be concealing plumage characteristics/pigmentation such as frontal striations (such as those a Brown Thornbill would display).
Though as said the elongated body does not seem typical of a thornbill's morphology.
I'm wondering if it's perhaps a different species of thornbill, something like the yellow rumped would offer an explanation of a longer bill and a more elongated morphology
Or indeed perhaps back to the buff rumped thornbill (I can only judge the morphology and stature from photos though and these seem to be more elongated than the brown thornbill)
The Yellow-rumped Thornbill is locally uncommon and typically has a pronounced black eyebrow and black crown markings.
however in juveniles these characteristics can be less developed:
http://www.birdforum.net/opus/images/thumb/b/b3/Yellow-rumped_Thornbill.jpg/550px-Yellow-rumped_Thornbill.jpg
still looks a bit tubbier than OP bird to me...
also OP bird appears to have more white in the tail than I would expect of a YRT
http://birdlife.org.au/images/sized/images/uploads/bird_profiles/Yellow-rumped_Thornbill-ct280-280x233.jpg
http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/sites/www.birdsinbackyards.net/files/factsheets/image/other/IMG_6394.jpg
though the species can have white underneath the tail:
http://ih1.redbubble.net/image.160651537.1354/flat,1000x1000,075,f.jpg
but still i'd expect to see more facial markings, a less elongated appearance and maybe signs of a yellow rump on OP bird.
Hey Frank, do you think you could post an unedited version of the photo?
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
The Buff-rumped Thornbill has a pale iris, though it may be possible that this feature is not developed in juvenile birds (though I can't find an example in an online image)
Here's a picture with good lighting of a young brown thornbill whose iris should eventually turn red. Perhaps its a characteristic of their genus for juveniles to have a fairly dark grey iris that colours as they develop.
Source: http://www.murrundi.org/index.html
hmmm again it does kind of looks like a Brown Thornbill but the bill is too long and body far too elongated. Also I'd expect to see some markings on the breast but puff-up feathers could disguise this.
Buff-rumped would be a rare vagrant, but not impossible. The Buff-rumped typically displays more yellowish underparts, OP bird looks more Gerygone-coloured to me but perhaps it is juvenile.
Buff-rumped does indeed seem slightly more elongated in morphology than Brown (though i've only seen Buff-rumped once)
but still it doesn't look quite elongated enough to me, bill looks slightly shorter than OP bird too
http://canberrabirds.org.au/wp-content/gallery/buff-rumped_thornbill/Thornbill_Buff-rumped%20(David%20Cook).jpg
Also I don't think I've ever seen a thornbill holding it's wings so low down like that??
Maybe it's pretending to be a fantail
http://www.obiobiparklands.com/species_list/birds/Grey-Fantail_Rhipidura-fuliginosa.jpg
Unfortunately, cannot. However three further images herewith may throw a little more light on the subject.... Thanks all for showing so much interest.... FrankB
Can you please post the three images Frank?
I don't know if its just me, but that first image looks like it might show a slightly rufous head, frontal stirations, a slightly buff underside and a red/brown eye. I'm much more inclined to think it's a brown thornbill now.
I concur, the bird also looks less elongated here.
Brown Thornbill is the most likely suspect given the locale; it's one of the commonest small garden birds in most of Melbourne.