Sorry to add to the load of small brown bird identifications on the forum, but I have hit a brick wall with this one and have decided to ask for help.
I saw it a Nepean Weir in Western Sydney. At first I thought the little bird was a female blackbird, but on checking, it doesn't really look like one! I've gone though my Field Guide with no luck- I still have no idea what it is. So if any of you guys on the forum have any idea, I would be grateful for the help. Oh, and sorry for the branch across the photo.
It has the look of a female robin or maybe a jacky winter.
Thanks for the reply; I'm really bad at identifying small birds like these- there are just so many of them!
The only problem with the two suggestions is that according to Eremaea, the only common robins at the weir are Eastern Yellow Robins (and there were plenty of those). All the others have a reporting rate of under 10%, and it is a fairly well frequented site! Also, it has on eyebrow, which made me rule out it being a Jack Winter. And out of the other robins:
But hey, I'm just guessing, and would be happy to be overruled. I did think it looked a bit like a whistler of some sort a one point, but none of them really matched.
It's a young Golden Whistler.
But it doesn't have a yellow bottom?
You might see a hooded robin near Sydney, the females look like that but have white flashes in the wings. I haven't seen a young golden whistler, rufous whistler would be more likely near Sydney.
True, thanks for the suggestions.
It just seems my picture doesn't really match any diagrams in my field guide (Pizzey and Knight)...
I guess it'll have to go down as unknown; I guess everyone has to have a few of those.
No doubt in my mind that it's a Golden Whistler The amount of yellow in the vent area varies & I've seen the odd one with no apparent yellow. I think the female plumage Golden Whistlers in the south tend to have less yellow in the vent area compared to the average birds we have up here in far northern NSW?. At this time of year you could have birds from Victoria &Tassie in your area. The pale bill base & rufous fringes on the wing feathers indicate this one is a young bird. Definitely not a Rufous Whistler which would have obvious streaking on the front.
The bill size & shape, among other things, is wrong for any Robin or Jacky Winter.
Thanks, nice to know what it is! I hadn't realised that they didn't have to have a yellow rear and a black beak.
I'm with Steve. Young golden whistler.
By the way, Lachlan. You're not "really bad" at identifying these sorts of birds. You may be in your early phase of learning about them but not "really bad". Everyone started somewhere & we all never stop learning.
For once, like Steve, I'm certain
, juv Golden Whistler. (I have all the above mentioned birds in my garden, none of those matches.)
BTW, very nice photo
M-L
Thanks for the confirmation: I can usually Id adult birds... but young ones? Not a chance. That it was a young bird might explain why it let me get so close it to take a photo... It just sat on the branch and ignored me while I took photos (which are chewing up my hard-drive at a great rate).
Peter
Yeah, but its not as neat then ):
I'd have to construct my own special folder maze.
Haha, I have tried that, after photo 14 512 of 19 000+, I gave up. Now it's even worse than before
I knew how to find things in my mess. Now, I'm only more confused
. I should never have bothered.
M-L
Over 19000 photos... Wow. And I though about 6000 photos were a pain to manage.
Haha, I haven't taken any for days, it rains and rains
, normally I take photos every day. My camera goes where ever I go
M-L
Peter
So far Iphoto has managed to work pretty well for me- nice lay out an all that. the only problem with it is that I can't process photos in Photoshop Elements, which is a pain. I guess that Iphoto wouldn't really be that compatible with external hard drives though.
Definitely young female Golden Whistler. Lorne