Bird Nest ID
- Thread starter JonathanD
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I've looked up Yellowhammer and Twite, Yellowhammers have squiggles on them like this...
I can't find any decent images for Twite, but they seem to have splodges rather than spots.
I can't find any decent images for Twite, but they seem to have splodges rather than spots.
I concluded twite from my Observer Book of Birds' Eggs (bought recently in a charity shop in Ludlow for ........£1.50!) where the colour plate seems more like your original photos than the one you posted just; also says hair can be used to line nest. Interesting thing is most of the usual suspects named are said to have clutches of four to six eggs.
Alan
Alan
Hey Alan, I've been studying that exact same book. The closest I found in that was Willow Warbler. It's most annoying that there isn't a decent bird egg and nest field guide out there.
Jon, why dont you set yourself up one day and watch the nest for a few hours. Maybe youll see mom and dad come by?
robin wood
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
There is a good nest and egg book but it is old, etiquette around studying and photographing nests and eggs has changed over the years. The book is Nesting Birds Eggs and Fledgelings in colour pub Blandford By Winwood Reade and Eric Hosking.
I will be very interested to see what you find on Thursday and I am going to plump for Linnet. Simply on the view of the habitat I would reckon I would be far more likely to see linnet there than greenfinch, bullfinch which are not really open heathland birds or yellowhammer which I would expect in more open country. Having checked the pics in Hosking's they fit pretty well bang on, the only other eggs which look very close are twite and siskin which we can rule out on region and habitat. The description of nests (he used to study huge numbers of nests) was bang on too.
"breeds mid april-aug, on rough ground with bushes, frequently on commons with gorse and thorn scrub, also in young plantations, hedgerows, gardens occasionaly on dunes and in heather. Nest usually in a bush or hedge, but also on banks and in low vegetation, such as heather, tufts of grass and rush.Female builds substantial structure of grass and moss, (and here is the clincher) lining it with hair, wool, fur and ocasionally feathers. eggs 4-6 bluish white with dark markings, incubated chiefly by female for about 1 1/2 weeks. Nestlings greyish down pink inside mouth pale pink flanges, fed by both parents. leave nest after 1 1/2 weeks.
Hints constant twittering song usually attracts attention. Male displays by drooping wings and spreading tail. If you squat down whilst searching you will have more chance of seeing the nest silhouetted as it is often towards the top of a bush or hedge.
I will be very interested to see what you find on Thursday and I am going to plump for Linnet. Simply on the view of the habitat I would reckon I would be far more likely to see linnet there than greenfinch, bullfinch which are not really open heathland birds or yellowhammer which I would expect in more open country. Having checked the pics in Hosking's they fit pretty well bang on, the only other eggs which look very close are twite and siskin which we can rule out on region and habitat. The description of nests (he used to study huge numbers of nests) was bang on too.
"breeds mid april-aug, on rough ground with bushes, frequently on commons with gorse and thorn scrub, also in young plantations, hedgerows, gardens occasionaly on dunes and in heather. Nest usually in a bush or hedge, but also on banks and in low vegetation, such as heather, tufts of grass and rush.Female builds substantial structure of grass and moss, (and here is the clincher) lining it with hair, wool, fur and ocasionally feathers. eggs 4-6 bluish white with dark markings, incubated chiefly by female for about 1 1/2 weeks. Nestlings greyish down pink inside mouth pale pink flanges, fed by both parents. leave nest after 1 1/2 weeks.
Hints constant twittering song usually attracts attention. Male displays by drooping wings and spreading tail. If you squat down whilst searching you will have more chance of seeing the nest silhouetted as it is often towards the top of a bush or hedge.
Can I have a £1 bet on twite to go in the next charity box if I'm right or wrong.
Alan
robin wood
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I think we need to know where in the country it is but from the fact he calls it heathland and it looks like lowland heath I am thinking it is not twite territory.
Sat there waiting as long as I could as I had a good herping day and work/snakes came before birds. I only saw the briefest of flashes as it came out. Some sort of non discript brown bird. Still none the wiser.
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