Useful tips were given in an
article by Graeme Chapman in the Wingspan for June 2003. He says that “A male
Satin is best regarded as a black bird (with a blue sheen just like a
Satin Bowerbird), with white underparts.” He goe
From: Julian Robinson
[
Sent: Monday, 18 October 2010 12:04 PM
To: 'Eric Wenger';
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] rufous fantail and flycatcher
I hope someone
answered Lucy and Caroline’s question. Once again the politics of this
list mean that I have no way of knowing if anyone did answer since some
responses go privately -- so I’m compelled to respond even though dozens of
others may have already done so back-channel.
Anyway my view – yes
it’s a Satin because of
a) mainly, the dark undertail as the Leaden has
lighter brown grey undertail.
b) The plumage does look black/shiny/blue/satin
as the Satin does, but I find that can be misleading because sometimes the
Leaden can seem that way, have a look at the third pic on the COG gallery http://photogallery.canberrabirds.org.au/Species%20HTML/leaden_flycatcher.html
…, and
c) People reckon you can tell the difference by
whether the black/white dividing line on the chest is ‘convex’ or
‘concave’. The experts (and HANZAB) often repeat this, but I’ve asked
some whether they mean concave up or down (since “concave” on its own doesn’t
specify which way a curve runs) and got different answers so it’s not at all
clear! I’ve never been able to pick it and I doubt if you will either
looking at the comparison between the gallery pics of each.
http://photogallery.canberrabirds.org.au/Species%20HTML/leaden_flycatcher.html
http://photogallery.canberrabirds.org.au/Species%20HTML/satin_flycatcher.html
If anyone can tell me
what I’m missing in the convex/concave clue I’d be grateful.
From: Eric Wenger [
Sent: 16 October 2010 16:49
To:
Subject: [canberrabirds] rufous fantail and flycatcher
There was one rufous fantail today at
Umbagong District Park (Latham/Macgregor). There was also this flycatcher.
I think it’s a satin, because it looks quite different to the leadens we had
last year. Can someone confirm if it’s a satin or a leaden?
Lucy & Caroline Wenger.
