Esther Townsend and I saw what appears to be a juvenile Bush-hen (Amaurornis
olivaceous) in suburban Brisbane on Sunday.
The size, demeanour, environment and general appearance seemed to be correct
but we struggled with a couple of details (see below.)
Here is our field description written after very good views but in somewhat
dullish overcast light:
Absolutely no distinctive features! No white at all, no barring anywhere,
beak and legs dull. Very plain, ordinary, nondescript, brownish bird with
very uniform colouring (although I'm sure its mother loves it.)
Upperparts uniformly dark chocolate brown, almost shiny.
Underparts uniformly paler browny grey.
Under the tail possibly paler, apparently not ruddy, definitely no white.
Legs paler browny grey, not green.
Eyes black, making the face look darker than the body.
Bill uniformly dark ?grey, NOT green. Moderate length, not heavy, very
ordinary. No frontal shield.
So the bird cannot be a juv Moorhen (no white under the tail) although it
resembled one in many ways except size and maybe leg colour. And it isn't
anything streaked or barred. And try as we might it isn't a Tassie
Native-hen that's flown north 8^)
We're struggling with Bush-hen because of bill colour (brown or maybe grey,
not green), undertail colour (paler browny grey not rufous), and leg colour
(brown/grey not green). In each case what we are certain we saw is very
much less striking than the books describe or show. It was a rainy overcast
day (in Brisbane! in June!) but we couldn't explain what we saw just by the
light.
Simpson & Day says BH juv "paler; bill all green" implying that the
undertail is ruddy.
Morcombe says BH juv "paler, whitish throat, bill brown" also implying a
ruddy undertail.
Pizzey says BH juv is "duller" and does not suggest the juv's undertail is
different.
Anyone wanting to see a couple of very grainy photos or to learn the exact
location please contact me.
I've googled in vain; does anyone have a juv or adult BH photo? I'm new
round here and I've never seen one.
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