Any Suggestions ?

[JB9302]

Was lookin out to the back garden this afternoon whilst it was raining and noticed what I thought was a female Blackbird moochin about at the top end of the garden , thought it looked a good size for a blackbird and it was holding its wings down almost touching the ground.
It turned to face me and I could see that it had a bright yellow beak ( like the males ) , was dark chocolate brown for the most part but its head and neck were a lighter colour , but the striking feature was a pair of raised bumps/eyebrows above the eyes which appeared white when viewed straight on.
I got a hurried pic through glass which I will try to put up later , I had to magnify it on the comp to see it close up and the white colour seems less and the features I have mentioned above the eyes almost reminded me of those on a Red Grouse .
A male black bird appeared in the garden several minutes later and there was no comparison .
The bright yellow beak and markings/colour above its eyes are swaying me away from a female Blackbird .
Wish I had the TC on the lens and had been outside for a better pic ,
Any ideas ?

Julian

[GuyF]

Sounds quite like a Sparrowhawk, and they often hold their wings down if they've caught something to protect it from scavengers.
Guy

[Jenny W]

Hmmm....Sparrowhawks do have wattle type things over the eyes to protect them from getting poked in the eye when flying or crawling through bushes so if it was a Sparrowhawk this could be what you've seen, but you wouldn't see them obviously at a distance, they are only small and theyv are yellow.

Blackbirds do hold their wings in that sort of posture when in threat display and some female Blackbirds do have very yellow bills - so equally could be a blackbird I suppose. Some male Blackbirds have very obvious yellow eye rings.

[GuyF]

Originally Posted by Jenny W

Hmmm....Sparrowhawks do have wattle type things over the eyes to protect them from getting poked in the eye when flying or crawling through bushes so if it was a Sparrowhawk this could be what you've seen, but you wouldn't see them obviously at a distance, they are only small and theyv are yellow.

Blackbirds do hold their wings in that sort of posture when in threat display and some female Blackbirds do have very yellow bills - so equally could be a blackbird I suppose. Some male Blackbirds have very obvious yellow eye rings.

I was wondering whether it was the Sparrowhawk's white 'eyebrows' that Julian was seeing, from head on they do look quite prominent (on a female hawk), although that would be a fair bit larger than a Blackbird so it could be either I suppose!
Guy

[Jenny W]

Originally Posted by GuyF

I was wondering whether it was the Sparrowhawk's white 'eyebrows' that Julian was seeing, from head on they do look quite prominent (on a female hawk), although that would be a fair bit larger than a Blackbird so it could be either I suppose!
Guy

Ah....true, I'd forgot about that - that explanation is more plausible than mine!

[JB9302]

Its def not a Sparrowhawk , its a Blackbird but just looks weird , I showed the pics to my brother this morn and he thinks there may be something up with it , spec with the long beak and brows above its eyes.
Cant work how to put a pic up here but have put one on talkphotography in bird section .
Thanks

Julian

[Jenny W]

Hi,

I think I found your picture on talkphotography. It's just a normal female Blackbird that has just had a bath. You can tell the bird has just been in water and that will probably be why it's holding it's wings down in that position. The white bits over the eyes just look like wet patches to me - the wet feathers have just shown up shiny in the photo. It's also possible that the bird has some white or pale feathering - Blackbirds are notorious for this.

[JB9302]

Jenny W ,
Thanks you are right I saw the same bird today ( in the dry ) , and it looked more or less normal , it has an unusually long beak when viewed from the side so I know same .
The brows looked less pronouced when dry , she like most ladies didn"t look at her best after a downpour

Julian