Black-tailed Godwit (was - I.D. please)

Rainbowsend

This is not a good picture, was on the other side of a biggish field, it was a large bird at first I thought it was a Heron but was not as big, then I thought Curlew but the beak seems to be straight and I think it was bigger than a Curlew, has an eye stripe and it was light brown mottled on its back, its legs look very "chunky" like turkey drumsticks...lol! Any ideas anyone?

Ruu_Old

Snipe maybe? Neck looks a little longer though, not sure.

Rainbowsend

I dont think Snipe would be big enough, it was a bit smaller than an
Egret, there was a pair of them but the second one stayed in the reeds.

Woodcock? Weird neck though.

littlebug

Godwit maybe?

Kess73

littlebug wrote: »

Godwit maybe?

It does look quite like a black tailed godwit alright.

V_Moth

Black-tailed Godwit. Note the pink, slightly up-curved bill with black tip. Back is also plain brown.

Rainbowsend

It was way bigger than a Godwit, look at those legs :eek:
this is a pic of a Blacktailed Godwit

Kess73

Way bigger than a Black-tailed Godwit puts what you saw in the egret size bracket at the very least or even in the grey heron size bracket.

The Godwit in the second pic you put up is in flight so it's full leg length cannot be seen, nor can it's long neck.

A Black-tailed Godwit would be a little smaller than an egret.


The only other bird which comes to mind, seeing as you discounted it being a heron or an egret, that fits the size and colour you described is a female great bittern (one was spotted again in Ireland earlier this year after a very long absence) but your picture rules that out for me as the bird in your pictures looks like a godwit to me.

Mickeroo

Looks like a Heron to me, look at the black stripes on his head. Body doesn't look quite right to me though.....

LostCovey

Black-tailed Godwit 100%.

Didn't join into this earlier because it was so clear-cut, I thought it would be unanimous.

Here's a (brick-red summer-plumaged) Black-tailed Godwit relative to a Curlew.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0NOIDFWZ8pE/TS9gm7m5RGI/AAAAAAAAA58/g6fBGYXZYgc/s1600/SDC13850.JPG
This bird is in winter plumage, and the photo is slightly over-exposed hence the slightly bleached look and exaggerated head pattern.

It's a Black-tailed Godwit.

LC

Rainbowsend

Godwit it is then, though I have never seen legs like that on a Godwit, thanks for all the replies

LostCovey

Rainbowsend wrote: »

Godwit it is then, though I have never seen legs like that on a Godwit, thanks for all the replies

No worries - it is an odd posture.

I think the bird is nearly face on, and is in an abnormally alert/erect posture (alarmed by the photographer maybe), which with the sharp light & shadows is giving an exaggerated view of the 'drumsticks', and making the bird look more heron-like.

LC

Half-cocked

Here's a pic that gives an idea what size Godwits are. This one was caught in a cannon net among a flock of Brent Geese. It was colour ringed and released and then spotted in the exact same location the next day. Being netted and manhandled obviously didn't bother it at all.

bogtreader

I am not sure what the bird is but if you look at the foreground there is a mallard
and also the tussock of grass beside it should give some scale to it i dont think it is
a Godwit.It seems to be bigger than that.My tuppence worth anyway

Pie Man

how about a tall Black-tailed Godwit

Rainbowsend

I dont want to be awkward but seeing that pic of the Godwit in the hand it definitely wasnt the same. This was taken across a field (big) and the reeds it is standing in would easily be waist height on the average person. So I guesstimate the size to be about as big as a Little Egret. Could it have been a Stork??

littlebug

confusing me now too ... that black tailed Godwit in H-C's photo looks much smaller than I remember them to be o The rspb describes them as "large wading birds". Could a male/ female difference account for H-C's small looking vs Rainbows large looking bird?

pikaia

I'm going with Godwit, the dept of field is very off putting.

Half-cocked

littlebug wrote: »

confusing me now too ... that black tailed Godwit in H-C's photo looks much smaller than I remember them to be o The rspb describes them as "large wading birds". Could a male/ female difference account for H-C's small looking vs Rainbows large looking bird?

Females can be quite a bit bigger than males. But we also get the wrong impression of size from looking through bins/scopes. This is compounded if the bird is among smaller birds, say a Godwit among Dunlin or Golden Plover. Often there is nothing to provide scale. I am still frequently surprized at how small many birds really are in the hand. Here's a few examples:

Oyster Catchers are large waders, but not really that big:


Brent Geese are no bigger than Mallard:


And Merlins are tiny!


Another cause of confusion is that we see birds flying with outspread wings making them appear much bigger than they really are.

Kess73

Yep birds being held look far smaller than they appear to be when flying or walking.


Here is an egret being held. Looks a lot smaller than when they are observed from a distance.



http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CPt9_qLZMJ8/TeaudWbiMPI/AAAAAAAADCM/biv0I_eKmmQ/s1600/IMG_3537.JPG

Kess73

littlebug wrote: »

I think it's just the size of the photo that makes it look big Kess

Your comment came after I had already changed it. :p:p:p:pac:



Edit: And I was too quick with this also. :P

littlebug

Kess73 wrote: »

Your comment came after I had already changed it. :p:p:p:pac:

and then I deleted it :pac:

Ahem..right.... back on topic !

V_Moth

I think you have to remember that the appearance of a bird can change quite dramatically depending on its stance. The actual body of a bird is not very substantial, the vast majority of the "bulk" you see on a bird is its feathers. For example a fluffed-up Robin will look a lot bigger than one which has spotted a predator and is preparing (smoothing feathers to the body for best aerodynamic shape).

Regarding the ID, the first thing to look at is the bill shape (long and thin), which rules out about 90% of Ireland's birds - leaving only waders and herons. Can rule out the two resident heron species Little Egret (bill not grey) and Grey heron (bill not yellow), leaving only the waders. Of the Irish wading birds, you can immediately rule out Oystercatcher (bill not bright red), Greenshank (not grey) and Snipe (not yellow). This leaves only the two Godwit species - Bar and Black-tailed. As the tail isn't visible in this photo, have to rely on other clues to separate the two species. Habitat is a good one, as Bar-tailed Godwit is quite rare away from coastal estuaries, so Black-tailed looks the more likely in this case and this is confirmed by the plain brown back. Bar-tailed Godwit has a greyish back with dark centres to the feathers on the back.

Half-cocked

Kess73 wrote: »

Yep birds being held look far smaller than they appear to be when flying or walking.


Here is an egret being held. Looks a lot smaller than when they are observed from a distance.



http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CPt9_qLZMJ8/TeaudWbiMPI/AAAAAAAADCM/biv0I_eKmmQ/s1600/IMG_3537.JPG

Yes, way smaller than I expected!

Rainbowsend

Thanks for all the input At least I got a bit of dialogue going :D

cameramonkey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZhEcRrMA-M

LostCovey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25N-4zrk390
Slide forward to 30 sec

LostCovey

Half-cocked wrote: »

Here's a pic that gives an idea what size Godwits are. This one was caught in a cannon net among a flock of Brent Geese. It was colour ringed and released and then spotted in the exact same location the next day. Being netted and manhandled obviously didn't bother it at all.

This is a Bar-tailed Godwit, much smaller than a Black-tailed Godwit.

LC

Half-cocked

LostCovey wrote: »

This is a Bar-tailed Godwit, much smaller than a Black-tailed Godwit.

LC

Yes, I should have mentioned that (slap on wrist). I don't have a pic of a Black Tailed in the hand, never seen one caught. I was just trying to emphasize how birds can actually be a lot smaller than we think. Black Tailed can be almost twice as heavy as Bar Tailed although wingspan and bill to tail measurements are very close. Black Tailed also has longer legs, which could add to the OP's impression of a large bird.

littlebug

Half-cocked wrote: »

Yes, I should have mentioned that (slap on wrist).

That makes much more sense now