birding-aus

help with ID - little brown bird

To: <>
Subject: help with ID - little brown bird
From: "Arwen B. Ximenes" <>
Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:57:16 +1100

Hi Birding-Aussers,



I saw a lone brown bird yesterday morning in a birch tree outside my living 
room window which I could not ID. I caught only a brief glance, but enough to 
perplex me and make me want to attempt to work it out - initially when it left 
I thought that perhaps it might be 'just' a female House Sparrow, I just wasn't 
expecting one there, though they are around a couple of streets away. It was 
similar in some respects to a House Sparrow, though it seemed a little larger 
and not quite as plump, with longer legs and what I realised later is that its 
bill was not right - not as finch-like, more slender. On checking the Simpson 
and Day I also realised there did not appear to be pale wing bars. The 
colouring, was otherwise very similar and the eye was too, which I guess rules 
out things like robins, whistlers, etc. It stopped briefly in the tree, hopping 
from one branch to another, then moved on. We have quite a bit of bush around 
our place and often see birds passing through on migration. (We also have some 
bloodwoods around and they are all in flower, in fact the Blue Mountains are 
awash with the pale yellow of flowering gums right now.)



On leafing through the guide I can't come up with anything that fits, other 
than female Brown Songlark, though there was no central dark patch. Sorry, no 
photo, and I appreciate more detail would be helpful, but I'm not hoping to 
make a positive ID (probably a female or juvenile something-or-other). If 
anyone has tips they can share on how they go about trying to identify these 
sorts of birds I'd be most grateful, as the learning curve is steep and 
neverending, and I know I'm not the only one in Birding-Aus-land who would 
benefit.

cheers,



Arwen













.........................................
Arwen Blackwood Ximenes
Lawson, Blue Mountains, NSW




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