JUNE 2010'S MYSTERY BIRD ANSWERS

Twenty seven entrants this month was a commendable return, especially considering at the half way point in the month I'd only received half a dozen answers and was facing the unenviable task of winding up the competition for good. So, they obviously weren't easy (though it wouldn't be much point if they were now would it?) and that, combined with England's early exit from the World Cup led to a late rush of entries for which I am, as always, very grateful if not a little relieved!

So, in an effort to increase our perception and assessment of birds in general (and not just in photos) how did we get on with these two teasers?

Mystery Bird 11

A gull or perhaps tern was expressed by all competitors to the competition and that was a good start, for it was indeed one or the other! There were seven species involved in those entries however, clearly illustrating the varying perception and assessment rational involved in our approach. Let's start by thinning those seven down though. Both Black-headed and Slender-billed Gulls received single entries but our mystery bird looks to have fully grey outer primaries, so lacking both the gulls white outer primary 'wedge'. Two down then. Caspian Tern also managed a single entry but assuming this bird to be an adult (immature Caspian Gulls have darker tails than adults) it would have a greyer rump (upper atleast) and it's overall bulk would be considerably more impressive than our bird. Little Tern managed a vote too and with no size comparison available it's a worthy entrant. However, that species has obviously dark outer three (or so) primaries which form a dark 'wedge' contrasting against the rest of the primaries and this is in contrast to our mystery bird which, whilst having slightly darker outer primaries, doesn't not match the stronger pattern of Little Tern. Sandwich Tern managed to accumulate four entries, a species which has darker outer primaries similar to that of our bird but which does not possess the noticeable black trailing edge to them which our mystery bird does. I'm afraid it's not that either then! This left two species, the often confusable pair of Common and Artic Tern. To be honest though, they were fairly easily separable in this instance for Arctic Tern, which received four entries, does not exhibit the contrast between the darker outer and paler inner primaries of Common Tern, a feature which is apparent in the image and for which seals it's identity as a Common Tern. It could also be argued that our bird appears to possess a bill too large for that of Arctic Tern too. Eventually though and either way they went about it, 56% of all entrants achieved a correct identification for this mystery bird.

Common Tern, Pilsworth Fisheries, May 2010 (Dennis Atherton)

Mystery Bird 12

So, do you stay or do you go? Ignore it because you think when you get over there it will not have been worth all the effort or scramble your way across, tumbling down embankments, tearing your skin on allsorts of vegetation in order to get a better view? This, was the exact dilemma which I faced with this image when I took it, though it has to be said that I had already decided what the bird was and that I should head off for a better look. Bear in mind that the image is heavily cropped from a digiscoped effort at high magnification, so any identification at this range would be difficult, nay speculative, so to get it right was a good effort all round.

Lets look at what our intrepid entrants thought it could be:

Common Redstart- 30%, Rufous Bush Chat (no scrub robins here I'm happy to say) 26%, Black Redstart 19%, Hermit Thrush and Bluethroat 7%, Red-rumped Wheatear, Isabelline Shrike and Brown Shrike 3%

So what do we see when we take a close look at the mystery photo? Well I'll tell you what I see. Upperparts a dullish, plain mid-brown with a contrasting and highly perceptible strong, bright reddish-brown rump and uppertail. That uppertail certainly appears to have a reasonably bold darker terminal tail band too, whilst the wings are noticeably darker than the upperparts with paler edges which are apparent even at this range. Now compare that initial and brief list of features with the species entered as answers, with your favourite field guide if you like too.

Common Redstart- no pale in the wing and lacks such a bold terminal tail band.

Black Redstart- see that for Redstart!

Hermit Thrush- thinking out of the box here, I like it. Unfortunately though, no pale in the wing and lacks that terminal tail band.

Bluethroat- lacks the pale in the wing and although has more restricted reddish-brown to the basal corners of the tail, that colouration is never found on the rump as in our mystery bird.

Red-rumped Wheatear- really going for it now, the box has been well and truly thrown away! Has the pale in the wing edges of our mystery bird though not the same upperpart colouration, plus the tail pattern is much more distinct and solidly contrasting in this species.

Isabelline Shrike- would have to be Turkestan Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides if you follow the current splits) due to the 'earthy' upperpart hues but the mystery bird is shorter tailed than this species (though caution must be utilised in case the angle of the tail in the image makes it appear shorter of course) but immatures do possess the pale wing edges of our mystery bird and it's potentially a good call. Ultimately though, the shrike doesn't show such an apparently distinct terminal tail band as our bird.

Brown Shrike- the same tail features as that of the Isabelline Shrike above apply in denying this species from fitting that of our mystery bird, plus the overall plumage hues of Brown Shrike don't quite match our bird either to be fair.

That leaves one species which we've left out. Left out because it is of course the correct answer to our mystery. After scrambling across to get a better view of the bird you are now faced with the image below and things seem lot clearer now don't they! Many entrants expressed an overall 'chatty' feel (that of appearing like a chat!) to our mystery bird and it is those little giveaway traits, the drooped wings, the overall jizz and 'feel' of the bird which atleast point us in the right direction. Many entrants, regardless of their suggested species, were clear that they too would have been off and after this mystery bird had they seen it and with good reason indeed. Maybe one day this will face one of us at a UK location and I'm hoping we're altogether better equipped to recognise it of we do. It would be nice if it were at Pennington Flash please if you don't mind folks, not though Paul, on North Ron please! ☺

Seven entrants claimed their correct answer to this mystery bird and they were Dave Broome, James Latham, Neil Calbrade, Dennis Latham, John Tymon, Paul Brown and Nick Green.

Rufous Bush Chat, Qatar, April 2010 (Ian McKerchar)

Unsurprisingly, this difficult round tested all entrants to the limit and it was heartening to be able to see the amount of thought, effort and consideration that had gone into all the answers. That said, only five managed to correctly identify both mystery birds, a great effort what ever method they used! Congratulations to James Latham, Neil Calbrade, John Tymon, Paul Brown and Nick Green.

Once again, there was no slip up from our current leader Paul Brown but it won't take much to allow the chasing pack to catch up such are the quality of entries throughout the competition.

For the time being at least, the Manchester Birding Mystery Bird Competition, that last bastion of birder versus mystery bird photograph continues to fly it's flag and it's all thanks to you, it's entrants. Cheers everyone.

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