Hi :) i was wondering if you think this is a white bellied cuckoo shrike or an immature Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike
to me it's a white bellied because i have had immature black faced here before and this just looks different but i'm not sure
sorry for the quality but it was a long way away
i basically take photos of anything that moves just so i can try to identify them not for the quality of the photo
thanks
Hi myky50. I think it is an immature black faced cuckoo shrike because the black band extends well behind its eye. white bellied cuckoo shrike has narrow band stopping in front of the eye and also has a pale ring around the eye.
i had a similar experience to you a year or two ago when I though a bird was a white belly when it turned out to be a black faced.
Cheers, Owen.
also, The black patches on young black faced cuckoo-shrike can vary quite a bit so it can be offputting.
Cheers, Owen.
hi owen :) thanks for that -they don't make it easy do they
on the same day and i also had an immature olive backed oriole/female figbird which i'm still trying to figure out
i guess your right they can be all different but still be the same - maybe i analyse things to much
anyway thanks for your help - i now know where to do the photos :)
no worries myky. Maybe you could post the oriole/figbird shot so we can help you out.
some birds are very hard to tell apart.
Cheers, Owen.
okay thanks owen
from the front it looks like a female figbird but the beck doesn't look right to me - immature olive backed orioles also have the same chest pattern so that doesn't help
from the back it looks like an immature oriole because of the colouring on the shoulders and the white markings around the end of the feathers and the white markings on the tip of the tail
so what do you think?
thanks Kym
Kim, I am almost certain that is an olive backed oriole.in the last shot you can see the olive with streaks on the back and the bird has no eye ring so it is completely different from a female or immature figbird.
I have seen the oriole in my neighbour's fig trees and I had trouble at first to ID it.
Cheers, Owen.
I mean Kym. LOL whoops
Cheers, Owen.
wonderful i got that one right lol
thanks so much owen
i enjoy identifying bird but the immature ones and the non descript ones can confuse me - not that that takes much :)
Kym :)