Bird ID please - possible Rarity!

[Guinnessman1974]

Hi, observed a bird I initally though to be a Stonechat, but have been mulling over the past few days and now I'm not so sure what it is..... any ideas please would be much appreciated as an a fairly experienced birder. Just doesn't sit right with a Stonechat for me right now.

It was in Whitby, North Yorks, on October 13th. The description is as follows.

Firstly, habitat was in long grass amongst rocky cliffs around the '199 steps' at Whitby. The bird, 'Robin' sized but slightly slimmer, 'hovered' above the grass at times, almost like a flycatcher. The throat was a reddy brown in colour, however their was not the white or black markings on the bird, such as in Stonechat. The wings was lightish brown in colour and also recall seeing some blue on the wing.

I think I could be looking at some kind of rarity here, but I'll need help from somone more experienced.

I had also thought of Whinchats, however I don't recall the white underbelly or white stripe across the head. There was virtually no white on the bird. And is it not a bit late in the year to be seeing Whichats, and do they ever 'hover' like flycatchers above long grass? The brown red on the belly extended a long way down.

Any ideas please?

[PMM123]

Hi,

I was at Robin Hoods bay last weekend and saw some birds which were very similar to how you describe. They were along the top of the cliff and on the sea wall and granite boulders. I didn't get chance to have a proper look as they were constantly moving around.

To be honest at first I thought they were Robins, but I counted around 5. The ones I saw I thought were slightly larger than Robin size.

Would be interested if anyone has any ideas?

[Guinnessman1974]

I am wondering if female Stonechat is a possibility, however the breast was more red that the diagrams in my Collins ID book show. I'm only really familiar with seeing males. I looked up some possible rarities - Red -breasted Flycatchers, Red-flanked Bluetail however these don't look like what I saw.

It's also too late in the year I would have thought for Whinchats, and did not look right for the Whinchat either.

[Picidae]

Habitat (cliff edges, long grass) , behaviour (hovering over grass) and description sound bang on for Linnets in varying degrees of plumage. (For PMMs post too)

The grey and black on wings very often looks blue in certain light, especially in motion.

Have a scroll down through these


http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictu...v=0&off=269885

Ps. Everything's a 'possible rarity' until it's identified as a common species one's less familiar with

[Guinnessman1974]

Cheers for the reply, definitely not a Linnet or a finch of any kind. The bird had a thin bill, more like that of a warbler for example.

At present, female Stonechat is the closest match I can find for this bird, unless others have any further suggestions.

[RobS]

I think Robins do exhibit some blue between the orange and brown coloration.

I would go for Stonechat and the reason for that is the description of it hovering over the grass. I saw the very same behaviour the other week and I don't recall seeing a Stonechat do this, I was rather taken aback until I looked through my binoculars.

I really doubt it was a rarity, unless you were incredibly lucky!!

Rob S

[Picidae]

duplicate post

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by Guinnessman1974

The bird had a thin bill, more like that of a warbler for example.

At present, female Stonechat is the closest match I can find for this bird, unless others have any further suggestions.

Thought you'd ruled out Stonechat - the bill description would have been helpful to include! No blue on the wing btw.

Female Redstart would be my other suggestion since you mention the bill shape. They frequently hover over grass and bushes as do many other species such as Wheatear, Linnet, Meadow Pipit, Stonechat etc!

http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictu...v=0&off=271235

[Guinnessman1974]

Thanks, yes female Redstart is a possibility also from looking at the pics. I'd not seen a Redstart before so had not considered.

[RoyW]

I would have thought that the red tail would have been mentioned in the original description if this was a Redstart - it tends to be the most obvious feature if they are hovering (or flying around) in front of you.