Bird near Thredbo

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akasha
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Bird near Thredbo

Hi. I saw this bird near the Thredbo River in January 2007. I have no idea what it is and I know the pics aren't great but any help would be appreciated.

akasha
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akasha
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Hi, so I've made the pics smaller (thanks Perthwings).
Any ideas on what it is?

Amateur

Defintely a treecreeper of sorts, I'd be going with perhaps a juvenile brown tree creeper, take a look at this photo I found, I tihnk your bird is probably just a little younger http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Brown_treecreeper_jan09.jpg/260px-Brown_treecreeper_jan09.jpg

al
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I'd say reed-warbler.
al

GregL
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I think its too pale underneath for a treecreeper, and not robust enough. I did think initially it was a treecreeper.

akasha
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Thanks for replying everyone. I still can't figure it out. Both the Brown Treecreeper and the Reed Warbler have a light marking above the eye and my field guide is telling me they both prefer habitat near water.

GregL
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You might see the brown treecreeper in habitat near water but not actually near the water. Treecreepers do what the name says, they climb up and down tree trunks looking for insects under the bark. They prefer big trees with plenty of loose bark. They spend a lot of time high in trees, but do come down near the ground. If it is a treecreeper it would have to be a disoriented juvenile. You wouldn't normally see a treecreeper on small willow branches over water, more likely place to find a reed warbler.

Amateur

If you look closely at the top of the head you can see some black and white markings, especially on the second photo, characterisitc of the brown tree creeper(?) And also, I've been flicking through photos and I have not yet seen such a distinctive eyebrow lining on a reed warbler. Another thing is that mainly the AUS Warbler has a kind of crest. Just compare some of the similarities between these 2 photos, I'm pretty sure it's a brown tree crreeper for mind, but I could easily be mistaken... http://www.ozanimals.com/image/albums/australia/Bird/normal_Brown-Treecreeper-3.jpg
and Akasha's photo http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/calicomary/IMG_103.jpg

Amateur

Also the dark line through the eye is also something the Treecreeper displays while the Warbler doesn't

GregL
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The reed warbler is described as plain fawn white underneath while the treecreeper has "regular black edged pale buff streaks on underparts".

habitat of reed warbler "weeping willows, bamboos, even tall cereal crops over or beside lakes swamps or rivers"

Amateur

However the B Treecreeper also has a habitat near streams. I think it may well be a Reed Warbler, just asking, Akasha I know it was a long time ago but did the bird call or sing? You can listen to both on the BiBY site...

akasha
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Hi Amateur, it didn't make any sound. But it did seem to be quite happy perched just above the water.

smeedingo2
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HI akasha
Here is a Reed Warbler hope it helps it is my gess

GregL
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By coincidence there is a picture of a reed warbler in Olivia Judsons column in todays new york times.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/cuckoo-cuckoo/

Amateur

Looks like you were right Greg and it is a reed warbler, the cuckoos though are unusual and interesting birds, I was lucky enough to see a documentry on them, some of the things they do are just amazing :D

akasha
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Yeah, I'm thinking it was probably a Reed Warbler.
Thanks for the help everyone.

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