what kind of bird this youngster is turing into? Yesterday I have seen and heard Eastern Whipbirds where 3 of those little ones were just before. They did have a kind of sharp two tone whistle. Does anyone know what bird they are? (I know there is yellow on the chest, but also some dark, almost black. They were slender and larger than Robins or Whistlers. )
I would love to know.
One more:
M-L
Although, from this angle it DOES look like a Golden Whistler??
M-L
One other idea, could it be a Crested Shrike-tit? The wings looked darkish green.
M-L
I have sent one photo to my young friend Owen, he is always good at telling what bird it is.His knowledge is fantastic. He thinks, just like I said in the beginning, it would be an "Eastern Whipbird". What do you all think?
I would appreciate some feedback.
M-L
The head colour is not same as the cst. Ref. Readers Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds (First Edition 1976). The immature (from photo) has a white crown with a dark band along the side of the head and across above the beak.
Golden Whistler immature: First year birds grey with olive grey on back, tail olive. Edges of wing feathers red tinged, belly and vent buff yellow. Adult size about 170mm including a 70mm tail.
The description of the Eastern Whipbird is too long to include here but it is about 250 to 275mm and the immatures have centre and sides of throat entirely black for about a year.
It looks like a Golden Whistler from the description especially given the yellow vent and splashes of underside yellow. The other two birds seem too dark even in the immatures.
This is my first visit since July 2009 so I am out of touch. What is your location. That may give a clue. The Golden Whistler ranges more inland than the Eastern Whipbird which seems very coastal from Mackay to Melbourne approximately.
Hope that helps a bit.
cheers Bob....Hastings VIC
Hi Bob , thanks for your response. Where I live, I have quite a few of both birds , and when I saw these young birds, the adult Eastern Whipbird was only a few meters away from them. It's just that I have juveniles and tiny just out of the nest birds everywhere at the moment, and I haven't noticed one like this before.(although there were 3 of them, in the photo is only the same one)
Sorry to say, I'm not convinced by what the Readers Digest says. I will have to find what bird feeds them.
The photo I attach is a Golden Whistler juvenile, unless this turns into a bird like the one above, they don't resemble eachother, what do you think.?
(Maybe I just want it to be a E Whipbird?LOL)
M-L
This bird does not look anything like the young whipbirds I've seen. Here is a photo I have of a young Eastern Whipbird.
I would say it is a Golden Whistler. I have seen them look like the bird in your photo as they were changing. Hope this helps ^_^
I have no direct experience with either bird. I live on the open plains about 100km down river from Albury. However, the Readers Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds shows a photo similar to the above and says it is an adult female and that a second year male looks similar. That photo shows none of the fluffiness of feathers that very young birds have. My original suggestion for the young bird to be a Golden Whistler was mainly based on the description matching your photo, especially the comments about yellow around the vent and undersides.
cheers Bob....Hastings VIC
Thanks to all of you trying hard to help. I do conclude now, it is in the process of changing from the juvenile, looking like the Golden Whistler in my last photo, into an adult bird.
(I would have liked it so much to be a Whipbird though,LOL)
Elle, I love the photo of your young Whipbird. they are so hard to take pics of, I have been trying for so long. One day I'll get one.
M-L
Thanks Araminta. Yes they are soooooo hard to gets of. This one was with two adults (probably the parents) and it was out in the open in my backyard, so I slowly opened my screen door and started snapping and it stayed there. I thought that maybe because it was young it didn't know to be frightened. The adults stayed in the dense shrubs.The problem was that it was getting dark so most of the pics were blurry or too dark. I was so excited to get this photo. ^_^
Good to see you've reached a conclusion Araminta,even if it's not the one you wanted :) It's always satisfying to get an ID.
I too have a lot of trouble trying to photograph Eastern Whipbirds. There are a lot up at my folks' place, but I'm yet to get a good pic of one. I find I can be close enough to hear them digging around in the leaf litter and cluck-clucking to themselves, but even in a small thicket, once you catch sight of them they're off.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane