GAME: name that bird!

[Galana]

Sorry. It is neither an Ashy nor Tawny-flanked Prinia.

[BRACQUENE]

@Galana

 

I am still convinced it is a Prinia seen most likely in Northern Namibia  ; could it be the Black-Chested ( Prinia Flavicans) which can in fact be mistaken for the Tawny-flanked  , but lacks the russet edges to wings and tail feathers ? 

 

 

[Galana]

6 hours ago, BRACQUENE said:

could it be the Black-Chested ( Prinia Flavicans)

It could indeed. Either non br. or Juv and yet to wear the Black-chest.

You got there by clinging to the idea that it was a Prinia. We will make a birder of you yet.

 

Over to you.

[BRACQUENE]

I am learning every day @Galanaand of course envious of your big collection of birds and lots of fuzzy pictures to fool us  ; that's why it takes me longer and longer to find one but I don't care if it is easy for all of you because it is only a game anyway 

 

[Galana]

6 hours ago, BRACQUENE said:

because it is only a game anyway 

And to be a game it has to be enjoyable which I am sure it is.

Your offering is a star. Hard to see which end is which but I will start the ball rolling by eliminating the obvious first.

The Water Hyacinth Pontederia crassipes is native to the Amazon basin South America but I suggest that you are not there but in Africa where the plant is an invasive nuisance in some places but readily eaten by Hippo.

A frequently seen bird in such systems is the small brown and white heron known as Squacco. (Ardeola ralloides) so I will go for that as a strong possibility.

[BRACQUENE]

@Galana

 

In Mana Pools , because as you probably guessed that's were we are here on the Zambezi River shore  , there are officially 11 species of Heron  : Grey Heron ( Ardea cinerea) , Black-headed Heron ((Ardea melanocephala) , Goliath Heron ( Ardea Goliath ) , Purple Heron ( Ardea purpurea) , Great White Heron ( Casmerodius albus) , Black Heron or Black Egret ( Egretta ardesiaca ) , White-backed Night Heron ( Gorsachius leuconotus) , Black-crowned Night Heron ( Nycticorax nycticorax) , Green-backed, or Striated Heron ( Butorides striatus) , Rufous-bellied Heron ( Butorides rufiventris ) and finally the one you guessed correctly the Squacco Heron ( Ardeola ralloides ) here not in his breeding plumage ( you can see the difference below ) ; We were lucky to see 6 out those 11 species in Mana as I always trust my son Willem's list even if I don't have pictures of all of them  Over to you ! 

 

 

[Galana]

Your first photo would make a good candidate for an award in EBC category.

 

At least my next one shows its head if not the location and should not prove too hard.

 

 

[inyathi]

@Galana

I thought had a rough idea, so I decided to consult two experts now no longer with us, a Monsieur Jean Delacour and Sir Peter Scot, their book The Waterfowl of the World is from 1954, so I thought perhaps I should check more up to date sources as well, having done that I was going to suggest a male Upland Goose (Chloephaga picta) also known as Magellan Goose, but the plumage below the neck just doesn’t match and having had a proper look at the head and bill shape they do not match either, I’m also sure you’ve not been to right region to see one, the Southern Cone of South America or the Falklands and it looks to me like a wild bird, not a captive bird. I was looking at South American geese or Shelducks as they actually are, because I ruled out Snow Goose immediately as the shape of the bill is totally wrong it is too small and, in most cases, wouldn’t be black. Before I completely dismissed Upland Goose, I had wondered if it could be one with aberrant plumage, this then led me to think, how about a different goose with aberrant plumage and I found one that might tick all the right boxes.

 

I will suggest given your love of Scotland and the fact a number of these birds have been seen there, so they're not impossibly rare, that your bird could be a leucistic Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis)

 

Here’s a link to a picture on Twitter from 2016

 

4 leucistic barnacle geese were spotted at WWTCaerlaverock last week. A rare sighting with their pure white plumage

Edited October 25, 2021 by inyathi

[Galana]

Well I wondered if it would 'fly' for long before the penny dropped.

 

I still remember the the lump in my throat when I first saw it and the pain I went through to get a clear view without flushing them.

They did jump but circled and came back.

Before pitching again in a better place.

And then I realised I was looking at my first leucistic Barnacle.

RSPB. Crook of Baldoon, Wigtown, Galloway. November 2019.

(I shall be there again in three weeks time with hope in my Heart.)

 

Well done @inyathi.

Your turn.

[inyathi]

 

@Galana

 

That was a great bird, you did have me quite confused for a while

 

The big mistake I often make in this game, is not to really study the photo and then answer too quickly, then when I learn I’m wrong, I look at the photo again and think why on earth did I think it could have been whatever I suggested, because the eye is the wrong colour, the tail is too long, the bill’s the wrong shape or whatever, some feature that I should have spotted, completely rules out my answer. I then kick myself, on this occasion I made sure I really looked, and focused on the head shape and the bill, as I said the South American birds, I was looking at are really shelducks, they’re not true geese, so it’s not surprising that their head shapes differ from the heads of true geese, it would have been easy to think it has to be one of those, but I could see that your bird had the head shape of a Branta goose, it then all fell it to place.     

 

Have a go at this one 

 

 

[Galana]

3 hours ago, inyathi said:

The big mistake I often make in this game, is not to really study the photo and then answer too quickly, then when I learn I’m wrong, I look at the photo again and think why on earth did I think it could have been whatever I suggested, because the eye is the wrong colour, the tail is too long, the bill’s the wrong shape or whatever, some feature that I should have spotted,

A timely confession as much the same could be said about your current offering. I am torn between two genera and my heart says one thing but my head advises caution as the obvious just looks too good to be true.

And it is not some obscure Vietnamese or South American or Antipodean budgie. This has African written right through it. One can almost smell the bush and hear the Fish Eagle calling.

Little yellow birds with black heads spells weaver and whilst Fanshawe lumps Black-headed with Village as cucullatus Sinclair calls it Village or Spot-backed with just a nod towards black-headed in the text as 'nigriceps'.

But then size matters and whilst you have cunningly hidden the tail I think this is an Oriole and the only real candidate is the obvious African Black-headed Oriolus lavatus. But what about the bright red bill I hear you say. It's a juvenile.

The other contender Green-headed is much lighter coloured and dull.

Edited October 25, 2021 by Galana

[Pictus Safaris]

A really interesting one @inyathi - my first instinct was weaver, but there aren't many neat fits. I have two species in mind, so I will start with a female Baglafecht weaver. Surely one of the most wonderfully named birds on the continent, and one I'm off to look up the etymology of now.

[inyathi]

@Galana@Pictus SafarisSince I never like to give too much away. I will just say that you are both wrong, I would post another photo, but I only have two shots of this bird and that one is the best one.

[Pictus Safaris]

Then a female Bertram's weaver would be my second guess.

 

According to the infallible Wikipedia, Baglafecht is likely to be derived from a local name for the bird in an Abyssinian language. Every day's a school day.

[inyathi]

@Pictus SafarisRegarding the Baglafecht weaver, I came across a discussion on Bird Forum about the name, one possible suggestion is that the name could have come from the Scottish explorer James Bruce, who explored Ethiopia in the 18th century and it could possibly be derived from Amharic, apparently the Comte de Buffon met James Bruce in Paris, so could have got the name from him, as to what it means, I don't think anyone is sure.

 

Bird Forum Baglafecht Weaver

 

As for my bird you are correct it is a female Bertram's Weaver (Ploceus bertrandi)

 

For interest here is everything Wikipedia says about this weaver

 

Quote

Bertram's weaver (Ploceus bertrandi), sometimes called Bertrand's weaver, is a species of bird in the family Ploceidae. It is found in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia. It is named after Bertram Lutley Sclater, the son of ornithologist Philip Lutley Sclater, who was a police commissioner in Malawi when Alexander Whyte discovered this species.

 

Over to you.

[Pictus Safaris]

Thanks @inyathi

 

Given it's now been two years since I've been able to step foot outside the UK, it's fair to say my stocks of new photos are running low. Doubtless this is an easy one, although I am sure it is an often overlooked species.

[Galana]

A worthy winner @Pictus Safaris. I was fooled by the apparently dark eye in the photo as Bartram's is (or should be) pale yellow.

[BRACQUENE]

@Pictus Safaris

 

Looks a crow to me and why not the ultra smart "New Caledonian " (Corvus moneduloides) ; crow scientists have studied their behavior as they use sticks as a tool for catching grubs hidden in hard to reach crevices which could be the case here ? The beak is moderate in size but is unusual because the tip of the lower mandible is angled upwards, making it somewhat chisel-like in profile which also seems to be possible seeing your picture. 

Of course if you have been on location to take a photo of this Tool-Making bird is another question ? 

 

[Pictus Safaris]

Nope, not a New Caledonian crow @BRACQUENE

[Galana]

I am going for Piapiac Ptilostomus afer in view of the brown primaries.

Edited October 26, 2021 by Galana
Added scientific name

[Pictus Safaris]

Exactly right @Galana- I thought I might fox someone by finding a shot without the characteristic red eye and beautifully long tail. One of a flock photographed in Arli NP, Burkina Faso.

 

Over to you.

[Galana]

Dredging up what I can, perhaps this may tax ones ID skills or not.

 

 

[BRACQUENE]

@Galana

 

Who doesn't try ... The picture isn't conclusive as for the colors ( the legs are a match I think ) but I see a lot of deep black and some white so it could be the Brent Goose ( Branta Bernicla ) but to see if it is black-bellied or pale bellied ( both below ) I would have to see a bit more  I read the Brent Goose can be seen around estuaries and saltmarshes and that in the UK main concentrations of dark-bellied are in the Wash, the North Norfolk coastal marshes, Essex estuaries, the Thames Estuary and Chichester and Langstone Harbours. Most light-bellied birds are found at Strangford Lough and Lough Foyle, N Ireland and at Lindisfarne, Northumberland.

 

 

[inyathi]

@GalanaI think you have gone for the old trick of posting a photo of a common bird from an odd angle, I've seen enough of them in my time to say, it looks to me like a Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)

[Galana]

5 hours ago, BRACQUENE said:

Most light-bellied birds are found at Strangford Lough and Lough Foyle, N Ireland and at Lindisfarne, Northumberland.

As well as here on the Isle of Man as my effort on Monday for Big Year shows.

Sadly, this was not the bird in my question.