I have this bird marked down as a 'whitethroat' but never feel sure that it is correct ~ so I thought I might get some thoughts or a confirmation from you 'wise ones'.
I took it on the 29th May 2009. I was walking on the North Cornwall coastal path round Dodman Point, south of Gorran Haven. There was a big drop into the sea one side of me and a gorse hedge the other with fields behind, very windy and bleak.
This little bird was singing its heart out! All comments really appreciated,
David
Ancient is not a bad thing and 'out of the mouths of [14 year old] babes and sucklings . . . . So there is hope!
Anyway a wise and knowledgeable local one, a trustee of the WWT, has said he is 99% sure it is a female Blackcap and sent me a pic to compare with . . . .
What do you think about that . . . . . job done or is the jury still out?
davidmelville said:Anyway a wise and knowledgeable local one, a trustee of the WWT, has said he is 99% sure it is a female Blackcap and sent me a pic to compare with . .
I hesitate to mention it but that's what I suggested on 6th Jan in the original post, admittedly without a great deal of conviction. Have we come full circle?
TJ
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Hello Dave,
Female Blackcap?
Didn't you say this bird was singing?
Yes, I did!
I know you have got something to say on that!
That's another 'ouch' you hear from the Warwick district.
Is this going to be the answer or is the singing going affect things?
Sorry Dave, I wasn't trying to be cryptic.
I'm not aware of song in female Blackcaps. In fact, in "most" birds (there are, of course always exeptions), It's only the male which sings. This "song" (as opposed to "calls") performs the functions of Territory demarcation and mate attraction. It's also thought that the males' song triggers hormonal changes in the females, bringing them into breeding condition.
Once more, sorry for being vague, have a link or two:
http://icb.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/31/2/318
http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/birdcommunication.html
László Garamszegi of the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and colleagues studied the literature on 233 European songbird species. Of the 109 for which information on females was available, they found evidence for singing in 101 species. In only eight species could the team conclude that females did not sing. Females that sing have been overlooked, the team say, because either their songs are quiet, they are mistaken for males from their similar plumage or they live in less well-studied areas such as the tropics (Behavioral Ecology, DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arl047). Garamszegi blames Charles Darwin for the oversight. "He emphasised the importance of male sexual display, and this is what everyone has been looking at."
This would indicate that a singing bird could be female and would solve the problem . . . . . .
Is that an agreement I heard?
Nice one David,
It would be interesting to know which species they named. I've tried to find specific references to female Blackcap song, with no success as yet. I have to say I've personally not heard of it. I've also looked for instances of arrested moult in males( i.e. retained Juv, rusty head feathers) with no luck either. I've got a niggling thought in my memory banks that somewhere, I once heard/read that some (imagine my italics) adult M. Blackcaps showed female type head feathers, but, for the life of me, I can't remember where!
I certainly agree that your pic looks very much like F. Blackcap though.
Sorry I couldn't be of much help, and thanks for the gen.
No sorry! You have been brilliant and I really think I can lay this one to rest. I am much more carefull now about getting diverse shots where it is not so obvious what the bird might be.
Enjoyed your company and look forward to future dialogue . . . .
One final point David,
I've just found the paper you cited, and there is mention of F. song in it.
http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/18/1/86
Cheers mate. Thanks for a very stimulating discussion.