Attached is a useful comparison of the two Redwing races
This may be useful, some good photos showing different angles.
Great. Thank you. The ones I saw were definitely paler so most likely Eurasian I thinkThis might be of interest Deborah?
coburni are said to be bigger (marginally) and darker, also with heavily streaked
under-tail coverts, quite unlike iliacus.
Cheers
Oooh right. I have no idea then. They are so similar. It's hard to tell from a distance.
This may be useful, some good photos showing different angles.
Thanks for this. The white bar below the eye is more defined on the Eurasian bird and the breast is paler so I'm thinking Eurasian matches my photos bestAttached is a useful comparison of the two Redwing races
Hello Deborah and all,
thanks for this interesting thread!
And although I agree with Butty´s cautious approach about ssp ID , I am very interested in this and therefore:
From a central european point of view, where Icelandic Redwings are very scarce at best, there where some papers/notes published about (confident) ID of some=the most distinctive/extreme (=not all!) Icelandic birds:
For your bird: as I have yet to see my first confident Icelandic Redwing I can only rely on literature. But I agree with you and all: the whitish supercilium and the lack of markings on the undertail-coverts are bad for an Icelandic Redwing, that can be identified with confidence =(does this mean, it doesnt originate from Iceland? Not necessarily (?)=I think this is what Butty meant???)
And with this approach I have identified these two birds as nominate birds of the ssp iliacus , despite denser, heavier and bolder streaking in one or a more intense-buff supercilium in the other Redwing:
(both Wyk auf Föhr, Germany, 22.02.2010
Thank you for taking the time to reply and for all your effort Alexander and others. I really appreciate being able to ask questions as I'm keen to learn. Unfortunately I'll have to get the papers interpreted but I have some good German friends who can help ☺️Hello Deborah and all,
thanks for this interesting thread!
And although I agree with Butty´s cautious approach about ssp ID , I am very interested in this and therefore:
From a central european point of view, where Icelandic Redwings are very scarce at best, there where some papers/notes published about (confident) ID of some=the most distinctive/extreme (=not all!) Icelandic birds:
For your bird: as I have yet to see my first confident Icelandic Redwing I can only rely on literature. But I agree with you and all: the whitish supercilium and the lack of markings on the undertail-coverts are bad for an Icelandic Redwing, that can be identified with confidence =(does this mean, it doesnt originate from Iceland? Not necessarily (?)=I think this is what Butty meant???)
And with this approach I have identified these two birds as nominate birds of the ssp iliacus , despite denser, heavier and bolder streaking in one or a more intense-buff supercilium in the other Redwing:
(both Wyk auf Föhr, Germany, 22.02.2010)