Hi Con
The Yellow-plumed Honeyeater we have in the hand in Tobias's shot is
going from its eclipse or non-breeding phase to it's breeding phase. In
eclipse it has a predominantly yellow bill, particularly at the base,
and the bill tip is black. A breeding bird has an all black bill, as
does the White-plumed Honeyeater in Tobias's set. The field guides
(well, Pizzey, which is in front of me) show black bills for adult birds
and don't mention an eclipse condition.
Here's a Yellow-plumed Honeyeater in breeding condition:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aovers/2063596809/sizes/l/in/set-7215759424
9322827/
Here's an eclipse White-plumed Honeyeater:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aovers/224084454/sizes/o/in/set-72157594249
322827/
Here's a breeding White-plumed Honeyeater:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aovers/246020056/sizes/o/in/set-72157594249
322827/
The Brown Treecreeper is a typical adult. I would suggest the brow looks
pretty normal in Tobias's photo, but the angle may not be the best. The
lores area does look a little darker than the rest of the brow. We
caught a pair, and I can't remember which sex the photographed bird is.
When handling the bird I have to gently blow on the throat feathers to
see if there is pink (female) or black (male) spots on the feathers
underneath, something which is very hard to pick up in the field. A shot
of mine of a Brown Treecreeper is here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/aovers/510066784/sizes/l/in/set-72157594249
322827/
Birds can look amazingly different in the hand, compared to seeing them
(even up close) through bins. I'll go out on a limb here and suggest
that some field guides are trying to portray the prominent diagnostic
features of a bird for identification purposes, and may not accurately
represent what a bird really looks like close up. With the treecreeper,
the guide shows you you're looking at a brown bird, barred undertail,
brickwork pattern on flanks, pale wing bar, pale brow.
Cheers
Anthony
-----Original Message-----
From: Con Boekel
Sent: Monday, 14 July 2008 5:02 PM
Cc:
Subject: Bird Banding in Charcoal Tank
Some interesting shots. The two that particularly struck me were the
Yellow-plumed Honeyeater and the Brown Treecreeper. The distribution of
yellow on the bill of Yellow-plumed Honeyeater does not appear to match
any illustration in Pizzey and Knight, Morcombe, Simpson and Day, or
Slater. In the same tomes the Brown Treecreeper illustrations all show a
rather dapper and clearly delineated eyebrow. The bird in the photograph
appears to lack the well-delineated eyebrow and to have a tan patch that
goes up and backwards from the eye instead.
Con
Tobias Hayashi wrote:
> Hi all,
> Just back from my first trip as a trainee bird bander. I dont know of
> how much interest this is to COG members, but we banded close to 60+
> birds and 16 species. Photos are up at
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/callocephalon/sets/72157606150246848/
>
> Incidentally, on the drive to Charcoal Tank NR (close to West Wyalong,
> about 280 km NW of Canberra), Anthony Overs and I observed 28
> Australian Kestrel by the road. This equates to roughly 1 Kestrel per
> 10 km.
>
> Cheers
> Tobias
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