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Thrush ID help required (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter NickPomiankowski
- Start date
Joern Lehmhus
Well-known member
I think it iss a very unusually coloured Blackbird Turdus merula. Shortwinged and longtailed, so looks good for that species-and also pattern fits (Though colour is odd)
birdboybowley
Well-known member.....apparently so ;)
Doesn't look like a Blackbird to me either - underpart markings look too 'ordered' and not random enough for any sort of leucism. Also the pale legs and very yellow bill (which would be darker in an imm/fem type would it not?)
Still doesn't help with id though!!
Where'd you see it Nick? Certainly is interesting
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Still doesn't help with id though!!
Where'd you see it Nick? Certainly is interesting
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Steve Turner
Well-known member
The size and shape, allied to the narrow yellow eye ring and bill would all seem fine for an adult male Blackbird, but and I don't know how on earth that solution could can resolve a face pattern and underpart colouration like this! The face and underparts look like they have some sort of zoothera sp influence...really bizarre looking bird!
Steve Turner
Well-known member
....clutching at straws here, but how often does Blackbird hybridize with other thrush species?!
Capercaillie71
Well-known member
Apparently Blackbird x Song Thrush is a well known hybrid:
http://books.google.com/books?id=iZ...ts=asg-OhVVrV&sig=Bs72WKoQtmM1axjwTXpGhYQ2JY4
JWN Andrewes
Poor Judge of Pasta.
So it would seem, but it refers to hybrids as having dark legs, and the pink legs on Nick's thrush are one of its most stricking features.
James
I could see this being philomelus x merula. Or at least merula x something. An astounding bird!
The legs look short and thin for a Blackbird as well as being pink, and I love those undertail coverts
The legs look short and thin for a Blackbird as well as being pink, and I love those undertail coverts
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Steve Turner
Well-known member
...interesting; well known, but not very frequent I would guess! In 18 years of birding I've never seen any reports of such a beast, and never actually seen one in the field.
Handbook to Avian Hybrids looks like a great book btw...might invest in a copy!
Cheers
Steve
KnockerNorton
Well-known member
Aberrant Blackbird for me. The pale legs are obviously part of the aberration on the underparts. The bill is fine for an adult female, and the throast/breast pattern is clearly there, and fine for Blackbird. I can't see anything Song Thrushy in it, except the leg colour.
If you think of all the millions and millions of blackbirds, and the likelihood of aberration that brings, and also how frequently you see birds with unusual blotches of white, or leucism, and how often you seen a hybrid Song Thrush x Blackbird.....seems pretty straightforward to me.
If you think of all the millions and millions of blackbirds, and the likelihood of aberration that brings, and also how frequently you see birds with unusual blotches of white, or leucism, and how often you seen a hybrid Song Thrush x Blackbird.....seems pretty straightforward to me.
Steve Turner
Well-known member
Certainly could be just an aberrant Blackbird, but for me there's just too many anomalous features.
I think the face pattern, underpart uniform whiteness and 'ghosts' of spotting on the flanks, leg structure/colour, and paler yellowish? fringing to primaries raise the possibility of a thrush sp (Song most likely) influence.
Cheers
Steve
Can anyone age this bird - I can't see any contrast in the greater coverts. If the yellow bill and eye ring are indicative of a male blackbird, then the rather song thrushy coloured flight feathers might be another indication.
And those legs still look weedy for a BB. Pink usually makes legs look bigger.
Also in most cases of leucism, its whole feathers that are affected - this bird has dark tips on the undertail coverts.
And those legs still look weedy for a BB. Pink usually makes legs look bigger.
Also in most cases of leucism, its whole feathers that are affected - this bird has dark tips on the undertail coverts.
KnockerNorton
Well-known member
It's an adult female, judging by the eye ring and bill.
I wouldn't put too much focus on leg structure, considering the quality of the picture and the posture of the bird. The best you can say is that they're pinkish, and stuck on a thrush sp.
If you look at where the pale areas are, it is where you'd expect some rufous or paler brown on a female blackbird. It just looks like the pale brown/rufous tones are replaced by whitish. ALL other patterning is fine for blackbird - the mottled gorget (no sign of Song Thrush spot patterning at all, to me), the face pattern, the undertail coverts.
For those quibbling about it having Song Thrush legs, how do you explain the yellowish orbital ring and bill? Or the dark olive/brown back and wings (perfectly normal for female blackbird)? A hybrid shows intermediate features across the board, it isn't a 50/50 split between the upperparts and underparts!
It's a Blackbird.
I wouldn't put too much focus on leg structure, considering the quality of the picture and the posture of the bird. The best you can say is that they're pinkish, and stuck on a thrush sp.
If you look at where the pale areas are, it is where you'd expect some rufous or paler brown on a female blackbird. It just looks like the pale brown/rufous tones are replaced by whitish. ALL other patterning is fine for blackbird - the mottled gorget (no sign of Song Thrush spot patterning at all, to me), the face pattern, the undertail coverts.
For those quibbling about it having Song Thrush legs, how do you explain the yellowish orbital ring and bill? Or the dark olive/brown back and wings (perfectly normal for female blackbird)? A hybrid shows intermediate features across the board, it isn't a 50/50 split between the upperparts and underparts!
It's a Blackbird.
Poecile; said:
I'm not sure that is necessarily true.
Have you noticed the pale edges on the outer webs on the upper tail coverts? Retained juv feathers or more in feather leucisism?
KnockerNorton
Well-known member
Have a look at this blackbird, and lighten up those rufous tones on the underparts
http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_th...tockphoto_2981306_blackbird_turdus_merula.jpg
also note eye ring.
and check out the eye ring and bill on this one:
http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/images/Birds/BlackbirdFemale.jpg
http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_th...tockphoto_2981306_blackbird_turdus_merula.jpg
also note eye ring.
and check out the eye ring and bill on this one:
http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/images/Birds/BlackbirdFemale.jpg
KnockerNorton
Well-known member
They're a ghost of normal patterning! I think some people haven't looked at Blackbirds very closely before....
I'm failing to find any pictures of ad fem Blackbirds with two-toned spotted under-tail coverts, they tend to be the darkest and most uniform part of the palest undersided birds. I'd be curious to see a photo of an ad fem blackbird with any contrast outer fringes on the UTCs too - its a juv feature I thought. I agree about the breast pattern.
