GAME: name that bird!

[Soukous]

My first thought was Desert Cisticola, but the crown is a bit darker than any I have seen so I'll eliminate another one - Wing-snapping Cisticola

Edited October 26, 2020 by Soukous

[janzin]

sorry @Galanaand @Soukous not Pectoral Patch nor Wing-snapping nor for that matter Desert. 

 

Hint, you need to look further East

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2020 by janzin

[kittykat23uk]

Madagascan cisticola? 

[janzin]

@kittykat23uknope -- although that would have been a good one to post, I do have photos!

 

 

[mvecht]

Maybe much further East

Golden-headed Cisticola?

[Soukous]

1 hour ago, mvecht said:

Maybe much further East

Golden-headed Cisticola?

 

Looks good for non-breeding plumage

Edited October 26, 2020 by Soukous

[janzin]

@mvechtfor the win, and 2nd prize to @Soukouswho got the plumage

 

This Golden-headed Cisticola was taken at Fogg Dam in the Northern Territory of Australia. Cisticolas are easy there because they only get two--this one and Zitting.

 

over to @mvecht

Edited October 26, 2020 by janzin

[mvecht]

@janzin  it took some searching too find the bird. Your clue made me think of India but nothing came up, then I remembered that you posted some stunning pictures from Australia and that lead me to the right bird.

Now try this one.

[offshorebirder]

Looks kind of like a Clapper Lark.   Is it an Eastern Clapper Lark @mvecht?

[Galana]

I was thinking some sort of Redstart or Chat but @offshorebirderdiverted me on to Larks and I think he could be correct.

Very plain on the mantle and no visible crest.

Very arid (or concrete) habitat so North African maybe?

Not one I have seen but I will go for Desert Lark with crossed fingers..

[offshorebirder]

I think Desert Lark might be more accurate - @mvecht's bird might have too dark a tail and wingtips for a Clapper Lark - be it Eastern or Cape.

[mvecht]

@Galana you can uncross your fingers. It is a Desert Lark (Ammomanes deserti isabellini). Quite a few seen in the Masada/Dead Sea region of Israel.

22 subspecies of Desert Lark are recognized!

@offshorebirder not a bad guess.

[Galana]

3 hours ago, mvecht said:

22 subspecies of Desert Lark are recognized!

I don't think I needed to know that.

 

So what to do now. @janzinhas opened the C bird box but I think I will save that for now.

An easy one pour encourager les autres?

 

 

[Soukous]

Grey-backed Shrike perhaps????

[janzin]

Long-tailed Shrike?

 

[Galana]

@SoukousSorry not a Grey backed Shrike.

@janzinI am sure you did not really mean Long-tailed (Magpie) but it's no anyway.

[Peter Connan]

Lesser Grey (aka Lanius Minor)?

Edited October 27, 2020 by Peter Connan

[janzin]

15 minutes ago, Galana said:

@SoukousSorry not a Grey backed Shrike.

@janzinI am sure you did not really mean Long-tailed (Magpie) but it's no anyway.

Long-tailed Shrike is very much a species so not sure what you are referring to.  Saw many of them in India https://ebird.org/species/lotshr1

[Galana]

10 minutes ago, janzin said:

Long-tailed Shrike is very much a species so not sure what you are referring to.

Mea culpa. A senior moment of confusion with its African name sake.

But it ain't that one either.

[inyathi]

@GalanaI've just had a bit of a chuckle at your minor ornithological confusion over names, as you couldn't really mistake those two shrikes,  of course, I'm sure I've made similar mistakes at times, with misremembering names. 

 

I wasn't really hoping to take another turn just yet, but then I thought it was time to letter others have a go at the other game, so I will make a suggestion with no expectation of being right and say is it a Souza's shrike (Lanius souzae) ?

[Galana]

5 hours ago, inyathi said:

as you couldn't really mistake those two shrikes, 

You can if a, you are senile and b focused on the wrong bloody continent.

5 hours ago, inyathi said:

I wasn't really hoping to take another turn just yet,

Well you got that wrong but not the answer. I did think Souza would have taken a few more goes to get.

What inspired the lucky guess?

I should really make you state where I saw it.

[inyathi]

@Galana Ah well, I'd have to say it wasn't just a guess, there are a number of reasons, the background suggested Africa to me and actually your confusion over the long-tailed shrike, tended to point me towards Africa as well, as it ruled out that Asian long-tailed shrike, and made me think that another Asian shrike wasn't very likely, then I have seen Souza's, I think more than once, but I'm not sure exactly where off the top of my head, but I could find out, so the bird and its name are not unfamiliar to me, then there was the fact that it hadn't been mentioned. However, the main reason it wasn't a guess, is what really told me that it is a Souza's, is the very obvious white-shoulder patch, visible on your bird, that the other shrikes mentioned don't have, it didn't look quite right for any of the fiscals, that would have a white-shoulder patch, had that white not been so visible, I might have struggled. I wouldn't know where you saw it, but based on its distribution, somewhere in Zambia would be the safest bet, but it occurs in a few areas in Southern and Western Tanzania, the Birdlife map even shows the southern tip of Rubondo Island, whether that is right or not I don't know, but I certainly wouldn't rule out Tanzania, as I'm sure you will have been to some of the areas there where it occurs. Knowing that you have visited both countries, I knew that you would very likely have seen it, so that knowledge helped suggest I was likely right.  

 

As I was fairly confident, I should have picked out the next one just in case, but I haven't but I will look for something and post it before I turn in for the night.  

Edited October 27, 2020 by inyathi

[inyathi]

This games been going so long, I'm always a bit worried that I might mistakenly repost a bird that I've entered before, a quick search didn't produce this one, so I'm confident it's not appeared before.

 

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by inyathi

[Galana]

Interesting.

I should have used another shot where the white patch does not show.

Actually seen in Namibia would you believe?

[inyathi]

@GalanaThat figures looking at the map again, I certainly remember looking for it in Northern Botswana in the Kwando area, but I'm not certain if I saw it there or not, was that by any chance when you visited Mahango as the map shows it being there.?