Walking to work this morning I saw what I thought was a large thrush from the back, but then I glimpsed a large red chest, so I took a double take - certainly nothing that I'd seen before. It had a clear dash of white under its eye, a dark head, and was on frosted grass beside a suburban road in Leeds, West Yorkshire. I am very far from a bird expert, but having been looking at pictures of red breasted birds, it absolutely looks like an American Robin - except that the white dash under the eye was a straight line, whereas in pictures it seems curved; and I didn't notice white above the eye. What else might it have been? I understand that American Robins are extremely rare in the UK, though not unknown, so it's far more likely to have been something else. Any ideas?
Hi Claym, the nearest I can guess to what you saw is possibly a male Stonechat - take a look HERE
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Regards, Hazel
Thank you so much for the reply! :) I have to say it didn't look very much like this - no large patches of white at all on the front of the body and the body shape was more extended. I genuinely thought it was a thrush from the back.
Did it look anything like this thrush ............it is a Redwing which visit during winter months; they are the smallest of the thrushes.
Thanks once again!! The chest was a deep red like a garden robin, not speckled at all; the red extended right down the chest. There wasn't red on the side. There weren't any speckled markings as on the belly of this redwing. the plumage on the back was darker - not black but a bit darker than this. The white under the eye was striking - a jab of white which was much shorter than what you can see over the eye of this bird, and a much brighter white. But this is a much better shape and stance than the stone chat - but it was slightly more upright and slightly bigger, perhaps. I don't think the beak had a curve like you can see here, but it may have done. I'm all agog for more suggestions!!
Fingers crossed that other members on here can come up with ideas; it is difficult without a photo to go on, even a bad photo can be good enough for some of the experts on here (I'm not one of them though ! )
Thank you!! I'm kicking myself that I didn't take a picture. I was startled and intrigued but my mind was full of work stuff and I just thought I'd check it out later. Thank you very much for your suggestions. :)
Definitely an intriguing report. As you say, American Robins are (very) rare in Britain but actually not totally unheard of in West Yorkshire; I (and many others) saw one in Bingley in 2007! They tend to behave very much like Blackbirds and if they find a patch of grass they like they can keep using it for an extended period. So far I don't think you have enough detail to identify the bird with any certainty but I would recommend giving it another go as soon as you can; unless the weather has changed dramatically it could well be in the same place or nearby. American Robins are pretty distinctive so any sort of photo that shows the bird reasonably clearly will be enough to confirm whether it is one or not.
The only thing that springs to mind for me would be a male Bullfinch. No white stripe under eye but other than that it seems to fit the description. This photo shows a 'less vibrant' one, but the colours can be very bright & vibrant.
My bird photos HERE
Could be Paul
HERE is the RSPB list of Birds identification also look at listings beneath( chaffinch etc)
If, and it has to be considered an if due to the brevity of the sighting, it really was a 'big thrush' size as reported all British finches can be ruled out.