James
The difficulty with this kind of question
in relation to individual photographs is that colour and its particular texture
– particularly ‘white’ or ‘not white’ - depends
so much on the attitude of the bird and how the light is striking its feathers.
I am not sure if the two below pictures are of the same bird, but if they are –
and probably if they are not - I would attribute the apparent difference in the
lightness of the belly area to that area being in shadow in the frontal picture
and caught by the light in the profile picture, possibly being reflected light
from the perch.
The best indicator of a ‘juvenile’
Golden Whistler is russet in the wing, but this is not evident in either of the
below photographs.
It is true that field guide illustrations
are often unsatisfactory on fine details. The HANZAB drawings are
particularly poor on this point. For the local sub-species the ‘Directory’
says that females and russet-winged immatures have a ‘greyish white lower
breast and belly, and white crissum [area around the vent]’. Of the
photographic field guides, the Flegg and the Trounson both show this contrast
between the darker upper breast and the pale lower-breast/belly, accentuated by
overexposure in the latter case. The NPI ‘Robins and Flycatchers’
volume has better pictures, particularly on pp 208 and 210, the latter being of
the Tasmanian subspecies, which according to the directory is similar in this
respect. Geoffrey
From: James Rolevink
[
Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2006
7:48 AM
To: Fergus Hornblower
Cc:
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] No
flames / scarlets at Tidbinbilla, but...
Each to their own. Believe it or
not, I get satisfaction from taking the photos, then having a reason to engage
with the group...
Also, the reason I ask is, the female whistlers I have photographed in the past
do not seem to have white tummies. In my extremely limited experience, most
seem to have grey tummies:
Moreover, I have yet to find a field guide that is so photographically accurate
as to categorically prevent argument, even amongst our esteemed expert birding
colleagues.
Is the white a feature of juvenile female Golden Whistlers?
on 19/4/06 7:18 AM, Fergus
Hornblower at wrote:
James,
Have you tried getting out a field guide and having a look for yourself.
Believe it or not that is why many of us get satisfaction from birding.
Fergus
James Rolevink <>
wrote:
No flames / scarlets at Tidbinbilla, but...
What is this one?
Cheers,
James
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