Jump to content

GAME: name that bird!


Jochen

Recommended Posts

5 hours ago, offshorebirder said:

My two cents' worth:  as long as it's not a cage bird, I don't have a problem with allowing exotics in the game.   

 

Definitely not a cage bird, they are widespread here and on the IOC list for Portugal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, pedro maia said:

it’s a female or a juvenile Yellow-crowned bishop

 

I did actually consider the Bishops - until you said it was in Europe. :(

So, in this case, giving us the location sent us in the wrong direction.

Edited by Soukous
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking at the bill and the russet colour my first thought is a Cape Sugarbird. But I'm still looking

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, Soukous said:

my first thought is a Cape Sugarbird. But I'm still looking

Very good but keep looking!:)

 

Like you I switched from "African" birds on deciding @pedro maia's bird was in Europe. We had covered all the darn Indigos and Whydahs and to be honest Bishops just did not fit as they are not striped white.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The bill is very Hoopoe-like - but I've never seen a juvenile Hoopoe so don't know if they have that much white on the front.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, Soukous said:

The bill is very Hoopoe-like

I should stick with the Sugar birds.

Hoopoes don't build nests like that. Not sure if they bother at all.

 

I don't think @Dave Williamsis smoking. He is back with the Bishop I think. well it is to be hoped so.:P

Edited by Galana
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Galana said:

Hoopoes don't build nests like that. Not sure if they bother at all.

 

Hoopoes - as far as I am aware - have nest holes in the ground

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Galana said:

I should stick with the Sugar birds.

 

A Gurney's Sugarbird then. It's amazing how much the illustrations differ from one book to another, in particular the colours

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Soukous said:

 

I did actually consider the Bishops - until you said it was in Europe. :(

So, in this case, giving us the location sent us in the wrong direction.

 

I only said Europe when asked, I didn’t want to mislead anybody.

 

Must be karma, no eagles so far...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@pedro maia

I'm kicking myself for not getting that last one, I was certain it was an African bird, but for some reason I hadn't looked at bishops, if I had, I think I would have got it, as the for once the illustration of the relevant bird, in Birds of Africa South of the Sahara is a good match, unfortunately @Galanauninentionally threw a spanner in the works, by identifying the location as Europe,:lol: I had no idea that there was an introduced population of bishops in Portugal, so I stopped looking at African birds. But I wasn't trying excessively hard to get it, as I was a bit too busy to put in the time and I thought there are others trying, so I didn't feel obliged to have another try. However, I don't blame anyone for misleading me.  

 

As for this latest bird, I don't think it is literally a sugarbird (having recently posted a shot of a pair of Gurney's a few pages back), I just think that it is a nectar feeder, my initial though was a hummingbird of some kind, but then the vegetation might point me more towards Africa with the thorns, but I would be cautious of concluding that, after what happened with the previous bird, there are certainly drier parts of the Americas, where you find hummers and I presume quite likely thorny trees, so I won't rule out a hummer, but I might look at female sunbirds first.    

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Soukous said:

Hoopoes - as far as I am aware - have nest holes in the ground

Holes in trees, walls and cliffs I am told. Even 'bird houses'. 

Never seen one though.

 

3 hours ago, Galana said:

I should stick with the Sugar birds.

Not to be taken too literally. Sugar eating birds perhaps.

 

58 minutes ago, inyathi said:

@Galanauninentionally threw a spanner in the works, by identifying the location as Europe,:lol: I had no idea that there was an introduced population of bishops in Portugal, so I stopped looking at African birds.

Me too. But 'we' had all flogged the usual suspects to death, Whydahs, Widows and until recently to be a Bishop you had to have a Y chromosome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A Marico Sunbird perhaps, although I've never seen on that ruddy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm fairly sure its a hummingbird, but I could only take a wild guess at which one. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

offshorebirder

I'm not sure the latest photo submission qualifies as showing identifiable features.   

 

If those are not included, then what's the point?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, offshorebirder said:

If those are not included, then what's the point?

To raise the bar from a full frontal photo of an Ostrich perhaps? Nate. That is not meant to sound rude but I can't think of a better way to express it.

Surely if it is 'easy' then it devolves down to 'fingers on the button' and we have already discussed on another thread the disadvantages of that to folks in different time zones.

Not my thread so let's see what others say. Janet? You got me into this!;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, janzin said:

I'm fairly sure its a hummingbird, but I could only take a wild guess at which one. 

A guess is better than nothing.:P As long as we are not in for a list of the whole darn Genera.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, offshorebirder said:

I'm not sure the latest photo submission qualifies as showing identifiable features.   

 

If those are not included, then what's the point?

 

It would be great if they were all easy Nate but, for me at least, this game is an enjoyable - if often frustrating - way for me to improve my bird identification skills. It has me going through books and illustrations like nothing else. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well I'm going to guess rufous hummingbird. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

offshorebirder

@Galanaand @Soukous you are perilously close to putting words in my mouth with "easy".

 

I said nothing of the sort.  My assertion was that a photo needs to show identifiable features - and that one does not.   It could be any female Archilocus Hummingbird (Ruby-throated, Black-chinned) and also other genera based on the lack of separable features.

 

In other words, it could be any of a number of female hummingbird species and the photo contains insufficient info to narrow it down much further.

 

This game has been replete with difficult submissions that are a lot of fun - even images where the bird is partly or mostly obscured.  But they all had *enough clues to go on* - that is the fun of a good submission.   This one frankly does not.   So things will devolve into people guessing and waiting for a scattershot to strike home.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

47 minutes ago, offshorebirder said:

Galanaand @Soukous you are perilously close to putting words in my mouth with "easy".

Not really. I merely gave reasons why I thought it should not be easy or you end up playing what I have coined "Longitude Lottery."

You have got all the indicators that I have and yes the bird is partly obscured by the nest but that is no different to having its head behind a branch or otherwise out of sight.

In my opinion, and I am on foreign ground with Hummers, I feel there are sufficient indicators to ID the bird. If the bird is not enough then maybe the nest may help. I don't know enough about them to be absolutely sure and that particular nest was found and photoed by me whilst on a walk. No helpful Guide to show it to me and give its name and no feeder for miles or kilometres. Heck. I might even be wrong, it's not unknown:(!

As a novice I often approach ID in reverse and in Sherlock Holmes fashion. With 300 or so Hummers we can make a start by saying @kittykat23uk's Rufous is incorrect.

It should not take  a scattergun but you will never know how close you came with the two you mentioned. So that's two more off the list!:P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about Costa's hummingbird? The habitat looks quite dry.. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, kittykat23uk said:

How about Costa's hummingbird?

Does it not look a bit too big for that? Remember

 

8 hours ago, Galana said:

Heck. I might even be wrong, it's not unknown:(!

I don't think I am but you certainly merit a Mention in Despatches for that call and of course getting so close you have decimated that list of 300.:P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How should I know? I was just going on the habitat I am not familiar with many hummingbirds and to be honest am just taking a wild stab in the dark based on nesting preferences, of which there isn't a lot of info on the Web. But I shall try Allen's hummer next.. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Safaritalk uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using Safaritalk you agree to our use of cookies. If you wish to refuse the setting of cookies you can change settings on your browser to clear and block cookies. However, by doing so, Safaritalk may not work properly and you may not be able to access all areas. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy