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nanoboy

Rufous whistler?

I couldn't see this bird very well in the light, and this was the only 'clear' pic I got of it.

Rufous whistler?
nanoboy, 5 Apr 2013
    • nanoboy
      I couldn\'t see this bird very well in the light, and this was the only \'clear\' pic I got of it.
      5 Apr 2013
    • Chlidonias
      appears to be a grey fantail....
      5 Apr 2013
    • vogelcommando
      could it be a white-fronted chat ?
      5 Apr 2013
    • Hix
      I'm not sure what it is, but I'm pretty sure it's neither a fantail or a white-fronted chat, although both are good guesses. (Fantail's don't normally have the white face with black bib, and neither chats nor whistlers have the white wing bars). Will have to think about this one.....
      5 Apr 2013
    • Chlidonias
      it doesn't have a white face with black bib, it has a black head with a white chin bar and white spot above the eye. Its head is tilted slightly and the branch disguises the pattern.
      5 Apr 2013
    • nanoboy
      Here is a pic from a few weeks prior in a different park of a grey fantail. I think that fantails look a bit fatter than the bird in question in this thread. Also, the bird in question wasn't displaying a fan and wagging its tail around, as far as I recall.
      6 Apr 2013
    • Chlidonias
      fantails generally look plump but not always, and they don't always display the tail-fanning behaviour. Google images of grey fantails and you'll see what I mean.

      Also you'd be hard-pressed to find another bird with those relative dimensions (especially the tail length).
      6 Apr 2013
    • nanoboy
      I see what you mean with the relative dimensions. I don't want it to be a grey fantail though, so I am hoping there are other suggestions. :D
      6 Apr 2013
    • Chlidonias
      well it has to be a flycatcher*, so check the flycatcher pages of your field guide and see if anything else matches the pattern. There may be something I haven't thought of, but I can't really see it being anything except a fantail.





      *in the general sense, before they split the flycatchers into lots of smaller groupings like fantails and such.
      6 Apr 2013
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  • Category:
    Australia - Wildlife
    Uploaded By:
    nanoboy
    Date:
    5 Apr 2013
    View Count:
    947
    Comment Count:
    9