Sorry for that premature
send. Message is below.
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 goes on to discuss problems caused by the field guide illustrations
and observing the birds under less than ideal light conditions. On the
breast line he says: “A useful field character ... is the shape of
the demarcation line ... In Satins the line tends to be down-curved, the white
breast forming an obtuse angle with the edge of the wing, whereas in Leadens it
curves upwards, forming an acute angle with the edge of the wing.”
He provides photos that illustrate this, but agrees the difference is not
always obvious.
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.
