Pied wheatear or Cyprus pied wheatear ? Lebanon , March 18 , 2021 . (1 Viewer)

[bassel]

Hello

I got this wheatear yesterday from the coastal area and for me it looks a normal pied wheatear . I am not convinced that this could be a Cyprus wheatear but preferred to post and get your thoughts in regards . So please can you confirm if this is just a pied wheatear .

Thanks

Bassel

 

[Deb Burhinus]

I have no field experience with Cyprus (that I know of!) and hybridisation/intergrades occur which complicates ID but there are several features that might suggest Cyprus over Pied. It does looks to have quite a short primary projection for Pied, the black on the side of the head looks quite extensive and mantle very black to nape. The banding on the tail also looks quite wide for Pied. However, as said, these features could fall into variation within Pied and/or intergrade/hybridisation, so someone with experience of separating these in the field will be more help to you.

 

[ApusApus]

The breast doesn't look buff enough for Cyprus Pied Wheatear, suits O. pleschanka better IMO!


Shane

 

[Deb Burhinus]

Good point and one I considered but it’s very variable and the lack of deeper buff might be more of a concern for cypriaca in fresh winter plumage but in Spring/Summer anyway, the colour is much faded - the white rump seems not quite as extensive enough on the last image too whttps://ebird.org/media/catalog?taxonCode=cypwhe1&mr=M3TO5&mediaType=p&q=Cyprus%20Wheatear

Cyprus Wheatear - Oenanthe cypriaca - Media Search - Macaulay Library and eBird

Explore millions of photos, audio recordings, and videos of birds and other animals; powered by Macaulay Library and eBird. The Macaulay Library collects, archives, and distributes wildlife media for research, education, and conservation.

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ML147564961 - Cyprus Wheatear - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML147564961; © Ilan Moriya; Haifa, Israel

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I’m not saying it’s not a Pied btw just consider the features I mentioned above and whether they all fall into pure Pied or fail to exclude Cyprus. Pied is more likely on location so probability favours Pied so if in doubt, I would err on the side of the default- even though that’s not for me a very comfortable way of separating confusion species.

EDIT Links showing Cyprus in March with pale underparts

 

[Richard Prior]

They are tricky to distinguish I find, in my (nearly two years) in Lebanon I only saw one of each during migration periods so neither seemed common ( Colin Conroy may have more views on this as he was there for a few more years than me).

 

[Brian J Small]

All things considered - short primary extension, tail pattern, etc. - I would go with Cyprus Wheatear

Brian

 

[Muppit17]

All things considered - short primary extension, tail pattern, etc. - I would go with Cyprus Wheatear

Brian

I was going to reply in the same vein. I have looked at some of the CW reports from Israel and I can't distinguish these photos from those. It may be worth sending them to Yoav Perlman in Israel or Colin Richardson in Cyprus for a local's perspective, but I can't see a problem.

That being said, I would like to hear the call to be totally certain. Having found CW in Ethiopia, I was only able to ID from the call and that was after being immersed in them in Cyprus.

 

[Deb Burhinus]

I was going to reply in the same vein.

Glad we were thinking on the same lines then re. the short primary extension, tail pattern etc
Should have waited before back tracking 🙂

 

[bassel]

Hello again and thanks much for the inputs despite they left me more doubtful on my ID .

As I have never seen a Cyprus wheatear , I couldn't properly judge on the primary projection length and thought that this is on the longer side . I also noticed the broad tail band but again did not depend on that as I know it is variable between individuals . The only thing that I thought it might favor Cyprus would be the head size as it looked quite large proportional to the body , and the bird looked little compact . I would have also expected more buff on the underparts on Cyprus , and this bird looks no different from the plenty of Pied wheatears which I have seen in Kuwait before . I can say I heard a call just once and it sounded to me reminiscent of Pied and eastern black eared , however there was noise at the location and I could not hear it anymore before the bird disappeared .

 

[Deb Burhinus]

I couldn't properly judge on the primary projection length and thought that this is on the longer side . I also noticed the broad tail band but again did not depend on that as I know it is variable between individuals . The only thing that I thought it might favor Cyprus would be the head size as it looked quite large proportional to the body , and the bird looked little compact . I would have also expected more buff on the underparts on Cyprus

As I noted initially, I haven’t afaik seen a Cyprus either (or if I had I’ve mistakenly dismissed them as Pieds since they were areas where Pied were most likely!) so my comments are just based on experience with Pied Wheatear. However, the pp definitely looks on the short side for a Pied to me but I am not sure if there’s any overlap between the shortest winged Pied and the longest winged Cyprus, likewise in tail pattern - at one end of the extreme, Pied can show just spotting on some of the retrices but Pieds can also have a variable amount of black on the tail. I’m not sure what the ‘large head’ refers to interms of separation criteria but given that Pied tend to be longer winged and slightly longer tailed than Cyprus (apparently) perhaps it was this that gave you the ‘large-headed’ and compact body shape gizz cf to Pied? It doesn’t look noticeably large headed to me though. (The buff/lack of are fine for either imo see links above)

 

[Brian J Small]

Underpart coloration id fine for CW in March

Db 16(5)1994

Read Db 16(5)1994 by DutchBirding on Issuu and browse thousands of other publications on our platform. Start here!

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I wrote this article on the ID for Dutch Birding way back when...

Brian

 

[Deb Burhinus]

Thanks for posting a link to your DB paper - Interesting the biometrics on wing-length and that there is no overlap - I think maybe I was referring to earlier, unrevised source material when I mentioned overlap of wing-length.

“ The wing of male Pied is longer than that of all female and nearly all male Cyprus Pied, there being only a small overlap in the males' wing- length ranges (around 89-92 mm). “ p231

https://britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V88/V88_N05/V88_N05_P230_241_A062.pdf

Re the underpart colouring of Cyprus

I posted March links from ebird of Cyprus above showing a lack of buff colouring on the underparts but I would like to know if is this rather due to intraspecific colour variability rather than extent of plumage wear or fading of the post-breeding moult colour in Cyprus (as I initially (wrongly?) thought might be the reason)? If breeding plumage is acquired through pre-breeding abrasion, it would suggest the former wouldn’t it? Hope that makes sense!

BB quotes Cyprus as having ‘slightly warmer and more extensive buff-cinnamon on the underparts, but this colouration is held for only a brief period, through March and early April, and by June the underparts are largely white” which further seems suggests intraspecific variability, since according to the above, adult male Cyprus should be darker on the underparts this time of year not paler (unless it’s just a few weeks too early for the OP bird to be showing this?). Does this mean underpart colouring is not always a reliable separation criteria for these species in the field regardless of the time of year? (My experience of Pied Wheatear, says this variability in underparts could also apply to Cyprus)