Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Possible Mealy at CB

Hi all
It would be appreciated if members of the Calderdale Birders would comment on the Redpoll at CB.
Brian S has posted his thoughts. Thank you.
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4 comments:

martynbirder said...

I thought it was inconclusive for Mealy, some features do fit but in my experience Mealy are usually paler, but it must be stressed Redpoll I.D. is not always easy as there is some variation in all forms

11:17 pm
AndyC said...

This is not the bird I saw on sunday , the bird I was watching was a female type with a white rump indicating Meaaly it was larger butI didnt have much time and hoped there would be some pics on the blogg to have a closer look.dohh

7:11 am
Jeff Cox said...

This bird looks too brown for Mealy. The Mealy I saw last year was pale, but pale grey rather than pale brown and it was also noticably larger than the Lessers, but as the photo is only of the single bird it's hard to make a comparison. So, Lesser Redpoll for me, but as already noted there are wide variations in Redpolls and would like to see Steve's video footage for a size comparison if possible.

8:04 am
Mick Cunningham said...

hi all.

fantastic pic. I have been interested and frustrated by redpolls for years. Even 'Advanced Nils' has proved not to clinch it for me. lost my copy so can't remember but I think he said mealy has grey ear-cov surround but there are pics of nesting lessers with this. Or was it dark spot in ear coverts?

Anyway, my (anecdotal) sense is there's a spike in claims of mealy in feb and march. ONE reason is, I think, many lessers are already starting to fade by then, this being especially on wingbars and some of the 'tawny' plumage areas eg flanks, tramlines etc - which all bleach whiter. the males can then look pretty mealy agin smaller fem lessers which start and stay swarthier. In theory we're supposed to test like for like in sex and age but, unlike many passerines, ringing shows sharpness/breadth of tail feather tip unreliable in redpolls. So they're a nightmare!! Does look too cute for mealy mind you;-)

good birding.

9:10 pm

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