canberrabirds

Possible sighting black tailed native hen

To: John Brown <>, "" <>
Subject: Possible sighting black tailed native hen
From: John Harris <>
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 01:13:51 +0000


Hi John. The reason I suggested that you consider YOUNG of the various
water birds was that you could hardly confuse an adult BT native hen with
a Crake because it would be nearly twice the size.
If the bird was Crake sized and not the young of something else, it occurs
to me that it could have been a Spotless Crake. Although I have not seen
one there for a some time, I have seen them at Crace before. If the
absence of the obvious white undertail was what you observed, then the
undertail of the Spotless Crake, although barred, is nothing like the
obvious white of the Spotted Crake flicking its undertail. So another
suggestion is a Spotless Crake.
John






On 16/11/2014 9:42 am, "John Brown" <> wrote:

>
>Thanks John. Of those the only likely candidate for the bird I saw was
>sub-adult moorhen with unusually bright legs yet insignificant red facial
>shield. Also my impression of the tail was that there was no white at
>all. There are certainly a lot of young there and elsewhere at the
>moment, yet this struck me as a strange bird. I just wished I'd been able
>to have longer look! I trust you'll be keeping a good eye out!
>
>John
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: John Harris 
>Sent: Saturday, 15 November 2014 5:58 PM
>To: John Brown; 
>Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Possible sighting black tailed native hen
>
>
>
>
>As someone with a long=term interest in Crace wetland and who has
>reported on it almost weekly for several years, I would be delighted if
>you did indeed see a black-tailed native hen. I have not seen one and
>they are only rarely reported in COG records. My only suggestion would be
>to eliminate the young of other water birds. Purple Swamphen, Dusky
>Moorhen and Eurasian Coot are all nesting at Crace.
>Perhaps someone clever like Geoffrey Dabb can produce a comparison of the
>young of these birds
>
>
>
>
>
>
>On 14/11/2014 2:40 pm, "John Brown" <> wrote:
>
>>
>>I was at Crace this morning and certainly saw a dark bird with very
>>bright orange legs - but without the Crake undertail markings -
>>disappearing into some reeds. I didn't a good enough look to call it,
>>and it never emerged. I wasn't dead certain what it was but I was
>>pretty sure at the time it wasn't any of the usual candidates, and on
>>reflection could have been a black-tailed native hen. Certainly worth
>>checking out.
>>
>>While I am posting, I dipped on spotted crakes this morning, both at
>>Crace (yet again), and Hibberd St pedestrian bridge, Forde (sigh),
>>although at the Hibberd street pedestrian bridge I was greeted by a
>>pair of black-fronted dotterels, as well as fairy martins nesting under
>>the road bridge.
>>
>>Finally, thanks for all of the responses I got both privately and on
>>the list regarding Fuscous HE's which have (also) been alluding me for
>>some time. I am just recovering from surgery at the moment but hope to
>>all of that information soon. Apart from some suggestions of specific
>>sites to see them, the most helpful tips directed to me the Our Birds /
>>Bird Info / Data .pdf's on the website. They are a great resource that
>>I had somehow missed until now. The data sheets come closest to the
>>kind of data I have been looking for.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>John
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: 
>>
>>Sent: Friday, 14 November 2014 2:11 PM
>>To: 
>>Subject: [canberrabirds] Possible sighting black tailed native hen
>>
>>Someone has notified COG of likely sighting of above bird at Crace
>>wetland this morning.
>>
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