Unusual Kookaburra face pattern

["Philip Veerman" <>]

Ryu,

 

Where are you? I wondered about a B-w Kookaburra hybrid but not likely as nothing matches that. Your email implies in Japan and could this be a bird in a zoo? OK probably not, as you would have said so and it was far away and looks like a natural setting......  Yes it is odd but that happens.  The head otherwise is overly white. Is the other side the same?

 

Assuming that in a normal kookaburra, the usual brown streak at the eye the brown is just the tips of the feathers, rather than the whole feather and if the feather bases are white (and I have no idea if it is but that kind of arrangement would not be unusual) and if the feather tips are frayed off or not grown properly behind the eye, that would explain the gap as that patch would then show as white rather than brown. (That is the process that happens every year on the black bib of a male House Sparrow or the white spots on a Starling). The very large spot where his ears would be is not actually so unusual (yes a bit too big) but is strange mainly because it is surrounded by white, rather than part of the usual full mask.

 

Philip

 

-----Original Message-----
From: [
Sent: Sunday, 4 January 2015 11:25 AM
To: COG Chat
Subject: [canberrabirds] Unusual Kookaburra face pattern

Hey guys, 

Saw a really unusual kookaburra today, doesn't have the usual brown streak at the eye, and has a very large spot where his ears would be. What do you guys make of it? (I apolosise for the low quality of the photo, was a fair way away for my camera)

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-sdlKNJkeAJY/VKiGog5uRZI/AAAAAAAACZk/v0aMqwDKXgA/w1207-h905-no/DSCN0079.JPG 

Ryu