Blackbird alternative??

[Paul_B]

We have recently put out bird feeders with fat balls and among the usual birds we had a brown bird that looked like a female blackbird but something was off. It kind of didn't look quite right. Now I cannot put my finger on it. I think it was slightly a different shape, perhaps a little chunky and drawn out as well if that makes sense. Possibly bigger. It had a lighter top of the breast and it had almost a subtle speckle to it with nearly the same colour. I went through all the possibles in my mind. Like was it a thrush with darker brown than the usual background to the speckle on thrush chests? No, a little too big I thought. We get both thrushes here so I know what they look like. It could just be a female blickbird which is all I can think it was but I know what they look like and this looked different.

Are female ring ouzels sometimes more brown all over than brown with the white collar? It was where the collar should be that I though was a lighter almost speckled patch I think. I seem to recall I saw a photo online of a female roug ouzel that was almost all brown.

Is there anything else? Or am I just wrong in thinking this was slightly different to the normal female blackbird that I thought it was at first glance? I have tried to find images of things I can think it might possibly be (a short list indeed) with no joy.

 

[Pattree]

There was a question in RSPB magazine a while back.
Someone photographed a bird and asked was it a fieldfare? The consensus was that it was an unusual (but not unique) female blackbird.

Could it have been either of these?

The only reservation that I have is that we don’t see single fieldfares around here, they come in hordes.

This was the bird in question:


This is a fieldfare

 

[Broch]

I don't like to disagree with the RSPB collective but, I suspect that is a fieldfare (the RSPB photo that is). It's quite possible there was a flock only around the corner and we do occasionally get the odd one on its own especially if there's been a bit of a storm.

Sadly, we've not had any yet this year

 

[Broch]

We have recently put out bird feeders with fat balls and among the usual birds we had a brown bird that looked like a female blackbird but something was off. It kind of didn't look quite right. Now I cannot put my finger on it. I think it was slightly a different shape, perhaps a little chunky and drawn out as well if that makes sense. Possibly bigger. It had a lighter top of the breast and it had almost a subtle speckle to it with nearly the same colour. I went through all the possibles in my mind. Like was it a thrush with darker brown than the usual background to the speckle on thrush chests? No, a little too big I thought. We get both thrushes here so I know what they look like. It could just be a female blickbird which is all I can think it was but I know what they look like and this looked different.

Are female ring ouzels sometimes more brown all over than brown with the white collar? It was where the collar should be that I though was a lighter almost speckled patch I think. I seem to recall I saw a photo online of a female roug ouzel that was almost all brown.

Is there anything else? Or am I just wrong in thinking this was slightly different to the normal female blackbird that I thought it was at first glance? I have tried to find images of things I can think it might possibly be (a short list indeed) with no joy.

1st Winter female Ring Ouzels are brown, with a dull wing patch, and a faint breast patch.

 

[Pattree]

Sadly, we've not had any yet this year

I wonder if we could divert some of ours. We were away when they arrived this year and I hadn’t cut any holly before I went. We usually cut some with berries and put in water around the end of October. It lasts very well with a bit of nutrient. No holly berrys for this years Christmas. We’ve watched them strip the berries in a day and the cotoneasters even quicker.

 

[Paul_B]

This is close I think, the write up from where I saw it said first winter female. So it could be but only one at the time. There was one trying to reach fat balls in a dispenser but perching on a branch just above it and leaning down then losing balance and hopped to regain it. I heard blackbirds strugglee to eat frrom dispensers so I guess this was similar in that and only got a little from the top of the dispenser.

 

[FerlasDave]

That could well be a young male blackbird. They stay brown through winter until mating season where the colours come through and the beak turns yellow.

 

[Pattree]

This is close I think, the write up from where I saw it said first winter female.

What are these among the Rowan? The behaviour is fieldfare.

There is a term used by twitchers - Jizz. It is short for “Just is” . It’s a recognition that comes from a live observation, often very brief, of silhouette, location, behaviour, sound, flight pattern etc.

 

[MikeLA]

Transgender blackbirdie

Bad sense of humour day !

 

[slowworm]

I was going to suggest a veggie option, something with chestnuts and wintry herbs, but then saw the thread wasn't someone asking for a recipe...

 

[Broch]

I've been watching our blackbirds carefully - we have a lot around at the moment. All the females have a very slight pale collar on the throat; it is only just perceptible. This is common apparently.

The best reference I have showing the plumage through maturity and the seasons is the Wildguides Britain's Birds- though, unfortunately, this isn't the best reference for detail such as breeding season etc. That book clearly shows juvenile males as dark grey with dark bills in the first winter and juvenile females as brown and slightly speckled chest; mature females brown and sometimes pale collar.

 

[Broch]

Should really have said, right at the beginning, Ring Ouzels are summer visitors!

 

[Paul_B]

I think it's probably the case that if it looks like a duck and quacks it's a duck.

In this case it's a brown bird with a lighter brown patch. As in mostly female blackbird so that is what it must be. It's just that it looked different so I thought I ought to check it's not something a bit different.

I grew up in an area with white blackbirds so they're not guaranteed to be black or brown. So variable brown is at least closer to type!

 

[Paul_B]

Should really have said, right at the beginning, Ring Ouzels are summer visitors!

That's what put me off the idea of RO.