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GAME: name that bird!


Jochen

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Pictus Safaris

Alright, perhaps an easy one with which to kick things off.

IMG_6759.JPG

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@Pictus SafarisWelcome and good to have another player. It was getting a bit like a Table Tennis match at one stage.

A worthy win and as @inyathisays them darn larks, and the 'experts' who split them, are a real test.

I went to bed last night 998% sure I had the right bird having compared the subject photo with one from the interwebby.

The rocks were saying Kunene from page one as I have never been down to Barlow land but there you go.

 

Sadly your bird is one I love to use for my illustration of how  'simple' bird ID CAN be.

Family-Type.  ..... Shrike.

Distinguishing feature.  ... Yellow bill.

Answer....  Yellow billed Shrike.

 

Edited by Galana
Corrected text.
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Pictus Safaris
6 hours ago, Galana said:

Sadly your bird is one I love to use for my illustration of how  'simple' bird ID CAN be.

Family-Type.  ..... Shrike.

Distinguishing feature.  ... Yellow bill.

Answer....  Yellow billed Shrike.

 

 

Right you are @Galana, I'll have to make the next one tougher. Photographed in Niokolo-Koba, Senegal.

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4 hours ago, Pictus Safaris said:

I'll have to make the next one tougher.

Not too tough I hope. I have not finished with my Cisticola collection.:P

 

In the meantime here is a bird that is not a Shrike.

1-DSCN6385.JPG.c463838eb6001d8af003ed88ab068a8c.JPG

Way too easy but it is really time for somebody else to have a go.

Edited by Galana
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Spotted Sandgrouse? 

 

Edited by janzin
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13 hours ago, janzin said:

Spotted Sandgrouse? 

Sadly no.

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@Galana I don't wish to jump in and have another go, so I'm not going for this, I haven't seen this particular species, but I would advise that anyone who wants to go and look for it, will need a sturdy pair of boots and plenty of warm clothes.:)

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Not Crowned either Janet. Sorry.

3 minutes ago, inyathi said:

I would advise that anyone who wants to go and look for it, will need a sturdy pair of boots and plenty of warm clothes.

To some extent I could agree but not necessarily so. I don't recall my wardrobe that day but don't think it was anythng special and I am no fashionista.:P

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@Galana  Tibetan Sandgrouse?

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Another worthy winner.

Tibetan Sandgrouse they are indeed.

Good sightings around Startsapuk Tso and Tso Kar.

Interesting birds in that along with Pallas' Sandgrouse their front claws are fused and they have have no rear claw so the foot resembles a mammals paw/pad..

Hence their scientific name Syrrhaptes "sewn together."

Sorry to @janzinI fear you had the wrong field guide.:(

 

Your turn Mvecht.

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Please have a go at this one.

This time I am 100% sure about the ID.B)

nn_1197.JPG.b0ba47efbad47145c480cf70d07b1f4c.JPG

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That's a great start. A Sunbird with neither the bill length or curve shown. No sign of an eye stripe AND moulting too.:ph34r:

Let's eradicate the first of many. Northern Double-collared Sunbird.

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@Galana  It is definitely a Sunbird, but this one has a different geographical range!

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offshorebirder

@mvecht - is it a Western Violet-backed Sunbird (in basic plumage)?

 

 

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6 hours ago, mvecht said:

@Galana  It is definitely a Sunbird, but this one has a different geographical range!

Really?  Is that a hint?

I am still looking at Double-collareds but maybe further west or south.

The drab colours of the belly rule out quite a few suspects and I am not convinced about the food plant being particularly 'African' although it could be a domestic garden.

There again could it be Mediterranean? Nile Valley?

Ah. Palestine I think.

1431588289_1-Yh8j8gw0x3PcWsHx3t84VcvXPlCj8fuLMVE9pCZSJAOM6jikJesMTDuACvqMdeKd2mLEWGVYIGrIE4XoBL1qs1200.jpg.98957b66d39ceb9d43411410963e2aaa.jpg

This is what your bird will moult into. Ain't Google Great!

 

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@offshorebirderUnfortunately not.

@Galana Well done. It is a Palestine Sunbird (Cinnyris osea osea) photographed in a garden near the Dead Sea in Israel.

The male in breeding plumage looks like this.

Looking forward to your next challenge.

 

Sunbird_1145.JPG.10e36c7acf0121890ed84a4dfcc33907.JPG

Edited by mvecht
typo
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5 hours ago, mvecht said:

in a garden near the Dead Sea in Israel.

Ah. So it was NOT in Africa then? That explains the vegetation.

 

Just checking my folders.

Back soon.

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@Galana If right, I haven't actually seen this bird, but it looks like a good match and the habitat seems to fit, so I will suggest Ahanta Francolin

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Well that one did not last long.

Ahanta Francolin it is.

Over to you.

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@Galana One mistake I’ve learned to try and avoid making in this game, is to answer too quickly, it’s easy to pick a bird that looks pretty similar, thinking this could be it, when you haven’t really looked at it properly and done a proper comparison, which would have told you that it’s not a perfect match.  Also if it is an African bird or looks like one, the first inclination is to assume, it’s more likely to be an East African or Southern African species, because that’s where most people have been, but in this case I saw that there were a number of East African francolins that do look reasonably similar, but when looked at properly I saw that they didn’t match, that told me I should go West because the vegetation suggested a forest species. I might not have had the good fortune to see this species, but I’m sure having looked at a map, that I have travelled through Ahanta Land, so the name of this bird was familiar to me and I knew you had also been to the right part of Africa, so I quickly moved onto the Birds of Western Africa. I’ve never particularly liked the illustrations in this book, but as soon as I checked Ahanta francolin, I thought I need to see some photos of this one and bingo!  :D

 

Lets see what anyone makes of this one.

 

13757068054_67272e626b_o.jpg 

Edited by inyathi
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Well clearly a woodpecker :)

 

Hard to tell without seeing the chest but I'm going to guess Blood-colored Woodpecker?

 

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4 hours ago, inyathi said:

it’s easy to pick a bird that looks pretty similar, thinking this could be it, when you haven’t really looked at it properly and done a proper comparison, which would have told you that it’s not a perfect match.

I know just what you mean. I did think the Ahanta may take us around more of Africa before we got the answer. Especially as some illustrations look nothing like it. Or should that be my photograph looks nothing like the illustrations?:P The bird is described as 'brown' and painted like a darn partridge in both my books.

 

And much the same applies to your Woodpecker. Too easy to just jump in with Scarlet-backed but there are differences to the standard books. I am torn between looking in Latin America and India eastwards. The bushes look like Rhododendron species.

Dang.

I left my checking too long.

What a difference 17 minutes makes.

Janet is correct (which is a nice pay back for her .)

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