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Bird ID

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  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Pied wagtails have longer tails than looks to be the case in the photo. And they’re more black and white (ie pied) than appears there. 

    Can’t see clearly but I’d have said the photo shows a Mistle thrush, going by the white outer edges of the tail … 



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • floraliesfloralies Posts: 2,718
    Can you give an idea of size? There's s big difference in warbler snd mistle thrush size.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Big Blue Sky said:
    Does anybody recognise this bird? It was feeding on grapes in our garden earlier today (I know, the picture is not great, sorry)


     
    Mistle thrush … a different colour-cast from different cameras but the markings are the same, the scale looks similar and the report of feeding on grapes is typical of a Mistle Thrush. 



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Big Blue SkyBig Blue Sky Posts: 716
    Thank you all, it had a very spotty belly, so looks like @Dovefromabove is right, it must have been a mistle thrush. 

    This is still a very blurry picture, but might give an idea of the size - the trellis is about 1ft wide, the many long branches are the aforementioned grape vine the bird was gorging on. 

    Apparently the population of this bird is in decline, so it was great to have this first sighting in our garden. 

    Grape vine seems to attract and feed a huge number of wild life ie birds and insects. And so easy to grow too. 


    Surrey
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Yes that’s definitely a Mistle thrush … Pa used to call them Storm Cocks as they often sing loudly as the sky darkens with an approaching storm.  In the spring and summer they like to perch up on a high vantage point and sing loudly as the sun goes down in the evening … their song isn’t as melodious as the Song thrush but what they lack in tunefulness they make up for in volume 😊  Love them. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Big Blue SkyBig Blue Sky Posts: 716
    Hi! Would you say this is a red kite? 


    Surrey
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    No, that is a sparrow hawk. Red Kites are much larger birds.
  • Big Blue SkyBig Blue Sky Posts: 716
    steephill said:
    No, that is a sparrow hawk. Red Kites are much larger birds.
    Ah, thank you! We have some birds of pray with forky tails and loud squeaky calls flying above our village, so I thought maybe it is one of them. 

    Not good news for the visitors of my bird feeder then  :o


    Surrey
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    steephill said:
    Red Kites are much larger birds.
    It's hard to get a sense of scale when they're flying but kites have a six foot wingspan. Over twice the span of the largest sparrowhawks.

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
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