Hi Arwen,
Have you considered Rufous Songlark? Although not typically a Blue
Mountains species, they turn up sometimes in unexpected habitats in
the Blue Mountains and this would be a likely time as they are moving
out of their breeding territories and starting to migrate. I'd say
they are much more likely than Brown Songlark in your location.
(Having said that, I am aware of one record of Brown Songlark in the
upper Blue Mountains.) The rufous rump is the main difference but
it's possible not to notice this if you're not especially looking for
it.
Another possibility is a female White-winged Triller, in which case
the wings would have a more "netted" appearance and the jizz or shape
different, with legs not as long as the songlark. If an eclipse male
the rump would be grey.
Of course when the birds are singing and displaying, the calls and
behaviour make it much easier! I hope this helps a little.
Cheers,
Carol
At 12:57 PM +1100 10/3/09, Arwen B. Ximenes wrote:
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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