GAME: name that bird!

[inyathi]

On 3/13/2021 at 10:26 AM, Galana said:

Stretching the parameters of "Name that bird" to the limit but what kind of flightless bird would I find in Iceland?

 A penguin of sorts perhaps, specifically Pinguinus impennis, the great auk, definitely an Icelandic bird and most certainly flightless, to see one you would need to visit the Natural History Museum in Reykjavik, I couldn't find a photo from Iceland, so here's a Scottish one.

 

 
Great Auk (Pinguinis impennis) specimen, Kelvingrove, Glasgow - geograph.org.uk - 1108249
Mike Pennington / Great Auk (Pinguinis impennis) specimen, Kelvingrove, Glasgow

 

The last great auks were killed on the island of Eldey of the coast of Iceland, it might not be true but it is thought that the name penguin, derives from the Welsh pen gywn, meaning white head, this name was applied to the great auk, because of the white mark on its head. 

 

Or of course, I could visit my local branch of Iceland, I'm pretty sure they'd have some frozen chicken, it certainly wouldn't be able to fly anywhere.

 

@GalanaBack to the game, @mvechtcertainly helped, making it very easy after suggesting it was an Albertine Rift bird, knowing your love of that region, I knew he was likely right, I also thought it had the look of a flycatcher, so finding the right answer wasn't a big challenge, it would also appear from my records that I have seen yellow-eyed black flycatcher, I presume I saw it in Bwindi. 

 

Now for the next one, shouldn't be too hard  

 

[Galana]

1 hour ago, inyathi said:

Or of course, I could visit my local branch of Iceland, I'm pretty sure they'd have some frozen chicken, it certainly wouldn't be able to fly anywhere.

That was the answer I sought. It was from an old Tommy Cooper Gag sketch as he was stuck with the Guardian Crossword at 6 & 7 letters with the clue "Flightless bird found in Iceland."  Always tickled me.

[Galana]

1 hour ago, inyathi said:

Now for the next one, shouldn't be too hard  

Well hiding the throat caused doubts but I will go for Buff-throated Saltator.

[inyathi]

@GalanaYou see that wasn't too hard, yes it is buff-throated saltator, I thought it might take you slightly longer than that. 

[Galana]

4 hours ago, inyathi said:

I thought it might take you slightly longer than that. 

I think I surprised myself on that one. I did think Mountain Greenbul at first and then I remembered your penchant for Latin America and reached for my Ecuador book to look at Tanagers but my eye caught the Saltators and despite the poor drawing the text said "upper parts Olive" so I took a punt as it seems I had seen one in Ecuador.

You were unlucky.

To misquote Bogie, "Of all the birds in all the Field Guides in all the world and you had to pick one in mine."

[inyathi]

@GalanaYes, I should have checked if it lives in Ecuador and picked a different bird that doesn't. 

[Galana]

13 hours ago, inyathi said:

I should have checked if it lives in Ecuador and picked a different bird that doesn't. 

Its getting harder to find subjects than to ascertain what they are.

 

With apologies for a delay in delivery service....

 

 

 

[Tom Kellie]

~ @Galana:

 

Thank you for your patience. The challenge you've posted has been delayed by an examination week in Hong Kong on-line junior middle schools.

 

Several your scholars have taken up the gauntlet, scrutinizing the above image, utilizing their deductive reasoning for assessing what's wholly unfamiliar to them.

 

They join yours truly in grappling with the image, wherein the setting is as interesting as the subject.

 

Up to this point, the consensus has been that it may be a species of Oenanthe, or Wheatear.

 

Were it not for the lovely white chest plumage, several felt that it resembled Oenanthe bottae. That's been discarded as there's certainly no sign of a red breast.

 

That it might be a female Oenanthe oenanthe has been kicked around, yet there's an uneasiness about that possibility.

 

Stepping out onto a slender twig, the remote possibility of a female of the subspecies Oenanthe oenanthe seebohmi has been bruited amongst the students.

 

One bright young lady asked how probable it would be that anyone would ever travel to the customary habitat of Oenanthe oenanthe seebohmi.

 

I told her that Safaritalk veterans are remarkably well-traveled, likely to turn up most anywhere with surprising regularity.

 

There's uncertainty in my mind and in theirs. Given the image above, Oenanthe oenanthe seebohmi is where our cogitation has rested.

 

If this sparks others with more rich experience, then our failure to conclusively identify might spark a more definitive effort.

 

Withal, the hours of discussion of wheatears in general have been enjoyable for all concerned.

 

What most surprised us was the variety of lovely Oenanthe species endemic to the Middle East, including around the Arabian Peninsula.

 

Tom K.

 

 

[Galana]

Welcome back Tom. I was beginning to wonder if everyone had gone off on Vacation.

I commend your students efforts on your behalf.

Birds don't read maps and this possible Seebohmi popped up when I was visiting the bird vagrant mecca of the Isles of Scilly. I too love the whole tribe and am anticipating our annual influx of the Greenland race any day now as they head north from Africa.

However, sadly I can say my offering is not an Oenanthe at all but a solid effort nevertheless.

So it is back to the books I am afraid. Perhaps your team should look closer to home?

[Tom Kellie]

~ @Galana:

 

We've accepted with appreciation that Oenanthe is off the list.

 

Likewise, those championing an obscure Lanius sp. have conceded that the stance and profile aren't at all shrike-like.

 

The bird seems substantial when gauging the pebbles and rock fragments on the surface beneath.

 

We're interested in this species due to the confidence and substantial bulk of the bird depicted.

 

Discussion has circled around the unmistakable sense that the general family of the species may be unfamiliar to us.

 

Due to unacknowledged ideological reasons, field guides to Indian species are suppressed in the area where the students live.

 

A much wider net is being cast in hopes that a more profitable line of inquiry might be initiated.

 

If others perusing this thread recognize the species, their insight would be most welcome indeed.

 

               Tom K.

[Galana]

1 hour ago, Tom Kellie said:

Discussion has circled around the unmistakable sense that the general family of the species may be unfamiliar to us. 

 

Due to unacknowledged ideological reasons, field guides to Indian species are suppressed in the area where the students live.

 

A much wider net is being cast in hopes that a more profitable line of inquiry might be initiated.

 

 

This comes as no surprise although the bird is native to parts of China. Keep up the search.

[Tom Kellie]

~ @Galana:

 

Through working with younger teenagers, I've become acquainted with the concept of flaming, i.e. posting intemperate comments on-line intended to disparage the thoughts of others.

 

My young friends forgot themselves in battling over Lanius phoenicuroides as a possible identification.

 

Several sank into excessively snide comments about the neck and breast plumage in the image you posted, questioning the visual acuity of others in overly harsh terms.

 

It became necessary to cool down the imbroglio in order to let tempers return to a more moderate equilibrium.

 

Noting to them that being correct is frequently less valuable than being cordial, they were enjoined to go to bed, postponing the chase until the weekend.

 

Talk of minivets, wheatears, cuckoo-shrikes and such subsided into slumber.

 

Teenage naturalists...

 

            Tom K.

[mvecht]

@GalanaIs this a real bird or a pseudo

[Galana]

10 minutes ago, mvecht said:

@GalanaIs this a real bird or a pseudo

Very good. Well it looked real enough to me when I saw it although I thought its given name a bit misleading.

As did the earlier scientists who thought it was something else altogether.

[mvecht]

@Galana  This is definitely a bird where Galana`s law does not apply neither in English nor in Latin

Last time you made me feel humilis for not knowing the correct name of the Rwenzori Hill Babbler. This particular bird has had so many different names that I dont have a clue which one is correct. I suggest that @Tom Kellieand team have a go since this bird can be found in China.

Edited March 19, 2021 by mvecht
typo

[inyathi]

@GalanaI had a feeling I should know what this bird is, although I have never seen it, since I'd correctly identified the region where the photo was taken, based in part on my knowledge of your travels, then @mvecht's comment about names reminded me, after I found the bird in my Indian book, I had a name, although I have to say the illustrations doesn't look much like your photo, however, I know it is correct, because besides his clue, a Google search for images, miraculously brought me straight back to this forum and one of your Big Year's, although curiously the photo that came up in Google Images that brought me back here was of a blackcap, which this obviously isn't, the odd thing is whilst you saw the blackcap in the same year, it's on an entirely different page of your BY, I had to search your BY to find the right photo, the mysteries of how Google works.  

 

However, I too will refrain from naming it, for the moment at least, to see if @Tom Kelliefinds the answer.

[Tom Kellie]

~ @inyathi, @mvecht, @Galana:

 

You've all larded the thread with ample clues.

 

I truly have no idea, but will set the teenagers to work when their day begins, many hours from now.

 

A pair have pledged to head to a university library where an illustrated guide to birds of India may be found.

 

Thank you very much to all three of you for scattering subtle hints.

 

May we be adequately discerning to pick up the trail.

 

         Tom K.

[Galana]

@mvecht@inyathiMichael and Rob. Gentlemen both.

I am pleased that you have both left it to the students to work their way though to the answer for a while yet. (Unless you are both bursting with a new offering to puzzle us with)

You are both correct of course and having swotted up like  a good student of yore today I was amazed by the number of able ornithologists who made wild guesses as to the bird's genera. One chap was still arguing that it was Parus decades later. It made Burton and Speke almost rational.

And as you say even the illustrator of  Grimmett's  "Birds of India" had problems with it.

Back with you Tom. @Tom Kellie

[Tom Kellie]

~ @inyathi, @mvecht, @Galana:

 

Chagrined.

 

My feeling after the species identification became apparent.

 

It would be unsporting for me to post the species name as discovering it was only possible through the generous clues from all of you.

 

I fully concur with @Galanathat our fellow bird specialists are indeed gentleman.

 

The young teenagers in East Asia are in process of eventually becoming such, or becoming ladies, as the case may be.

 

************************

 

Now it's clear why the bird in the image was opaque to the resources available to the teenage naturalists.

 

In addition to India's Ladakh region, and farthest western Nepal, the species is endemic to what is regarded as being the most sensitive area of China.

 

That area, 西藏, or Tibet, is handled with special care in order to minimize tourism, photography, or any form of “foreign” interest.

 

Likewise sections of neighboring 甘肃, or Gansu, and 四川, or Sichuan, are treated with exceptional care due to the large Tibetan population.

 

Hence bird, small mammal, reptile, and wildflower information for that region is intentionally sparse and vague, at best. Few helpful images are available, as a matter of policy.

 

As it happens, this species lives in a range almost exactly coterminous with the highest concentration of the Tibetan nationality.

 

*************************

 

How was the species identified?

 

As my young students know all too well, I'm not a digital native.

 

Without any smartphone, and having never had access to a reliable search engine until the past two months, my research has tended to be bibliocentric.

 

For the edification of others, here's the clumsy path towards awareness which brought me to the answer.

 

      •  The original image from @Galanadepicted a dry, stony land surface. That was suggestive of a mountainous, arid biozone.

 

      •  The allusion to “pseudo” by @mvechtseemed significant, especially given subsequent comments.

 

      •  The allusion to “humilis” by @mvechtwas a strong indication of possible nomenclature.

 

      •  The reference to India by @inyathi, as well as his mention of there having been less-than-helpful common names were valuable tips.

 

With all of those in mind, I hesitantly went to a search engine (DuckDuckGo) into which was typed:

 

            pseudo + humilis + india + bird

 

The results readily identified the species.

 

**************************

 

It bears reiterating that there's no honor in this identification, as it entirely rested upon the kindly assistance of all of you.

 

One would refrain from any conjecture as to how likely it would have been for the students and their aging former instructor to have stumbled upon this species.

 

Consequently I haven't posted the identification, in order for one of those gentleman who originally identified it to accept the laurels.

 

What a fine challenge, @Galana! Definitely worthy of this thread's high standards.

 

We've learned much about Oenanthe diversity even though that was wide from the mark.

 

Even the most inaccurate lines of reasoning have been useful, due to the value of refining discrimination when examining the limited evidence present in a single image.

 

Many thanks for posting this species, and hearty appreciation to both @mvechtand @inyathifor their very kind assistance.

 

                 Tom K.

[Galana]

Well done @Tom Kellie. It was a challenge and you rose to it.

Even I missed the humilis clue from @mvecht

A strange bird indeed and I learned a fair bit about it today.

I would not say that Galanas Law failed. It feeds by pecking the ground so what is good enough for Woody's aboreal tribe should be good enough for Mr Hume.

I can now invite @mvechtto take up the baton.

[mvecht]

@Galana I tried really hard not to get the baton

I guess we should name the bird. Ground tit aka Tibetan Ground tit, Hume`s Ground tit and formerly known as Hume`s Groundpecker, Hume`s Ground Jay and Tibetan Ground Jay

so lets go with the scientific name Pseudopodeces humilis just to make sure

@Tom Kellieand team   Your idea of the bird being an Oenanthe was not far off. This is what Wikipidia has to say about the bird:

"More strongly however, it resembles a wheatear (Oenanthe) in habitus, but lacks black feathers and has a strong and slightly downcurved bill resembling that of a chough (Pyrrhocorax) in shape (though not in colour)"

Please have a go at this one

[Galana]

4 hours ago, mvecht said:

@Galana I tried really hard not to get the baton

Trying equally hard to quickly pass it on too.

 

Regarding humilis the answer I was looking for is what is on my book Hume's Groundpecker.

[mvecht]

I have never before come across a bird with so many synonymous names:

Ground tit, Little Ground Jay, Hume's Ground Jay, Hume's Groundpecker, Hume's Ground Chough, Hume's Ground-pecker, Hume's Ground-Chough,  Hume's Ground-Jay, Little Ground-Jay, Brown Ground Jay, Groundpecker, Tibetan Ground-tit, Tibetan Ground Jay,  Tibetan Groundpecker!

 

[Galana]

7 hours ago, Galana said:

Trying equally hard to quickly pass it on too.

Well it very much looks like I get passed the short baton.

Oriental Magpie Robin.

[Tom Kellie]

~ @Galana:

 

The teenagers and yours truly posted nothing as this species is on almost every block in Chinese cities.

 

Looking in brush or around small trees, they're a confiding species.

 

It's one of the very few species where for me the binomial nomenclature, Copsychus saularis, is more familiar than the English Common name.

 

Well done!

 

                   Tom K.