Birding Aus is a fantastic site for assistance. I've had
suggestions of young Dusky Woodswallow, Jacky Winter and Plum Headed Finch. At
Crown Station Road there were actually a couple of young woodswallows and
although the markings on the head and body were similar the jizz and size was
very different, did give a good chance for comparisons though. I think the birds
I saw were about the Jacky Winter size, certainly bigger than the Zebra Finches
I was seeing. They also looked dark grey rather than the browner colour of the
Plum Headed Finch in the field guide. Still if it had been a Plum Headed
Finch that would have been a frustratingly missed tick for about the fifth time
in the Capertee Valley, in fact that had been my target bird on
Wednesday. I think it was most likely to be young Jacky Winters.
Maybe someone should put out a field guide of very young birds
that don't quite fit into the birds shown in the field guides. Pizzey and Knight
only showed the adult Jacky Winter for example.
Thanks for all your help
Regards Steve Gross
Orange NSW
