birding-aus

Re: [Fwd: [Birding-Aus] Kingfishers]

To: "Ian Cowan" <>
Subject: Re: [Fwd: [Birding-Aus] Kingfishers]
From: "Tom Tarrant" <>
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:34:26 +1000
Sorry to 'shoot-you down' but the bird in question is definitely a Collared,
note the 'british racing-green and turquoise-blue plumage with no buff on
the underparts and a much heftier-bill (for dealing with mudflat crabs).
I've just spent a couple of weeks in Cape York and Cairns area and made a
point of observing the plumages of this species and can assure you this is
the same as the Collared that I saw there.

Tom



On Sun, Jan 11, 2009 at 4:42 PM, Ian Cowan <> wrote:

>  I know I will be shot down, but I am going for Sacred.  Although it is
> hard to judge the size of the bird, from the appearance of the mud and
> sticks around it I would put it as a small bird, smaller than the Collared.
> It is also thin (scrawny) whereas the collared is a distinctly larger,
> plumper bird (not always obvious in the field guides).  The Collared around
> Cairns tends to inhabit the taller mangrove forest, not the mudflats.  The
> form of the Sacred that feeds on the mudflats and sandflats is quite dark on
> its back, in some light conditions it can even appear to be black at first
> glance, and often does not display the buff colouring of the "suburban"
> Sacred
>
> Ian Cowan
> Clifton Beach
>



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