At first glance a Dunnock but with a speckled chest like a thrush ?

New visitors to our garden this week , so pretty , no pics yet sorry 

  • Hi Colour wise more like a corn bunting but its beak is for finding insects, fine like a dunnock, the last time we saw them it was a frosty morning like today , as the weather is changing here think we will see them again
    Have not looked how to post a photo yet
  • Yes think it is thank you , sorry not that tech savy replied Sat and earlier only for it to not to register .....hadnt signed in ,
    We have seen them before, but not known what they are , a few years ago found a dead bird under the power lines that supply our house in the Cotes d’ Armor the only bird that fit for colour was a Meadow Pipit but that bird was much bigger but that then gave us a false picture of a Meadow Pipit was
  • I think meadow pipits are pretty variable in colour. The ones in Norfolk could be mistaken for dunnocks but the ones in Cornwall are much paler and yellowish almost female yellowhammer-like (unless I've misidentified them).
  • It seems pretty certain that you have indeed misidentified them in both locations. Meadow Pipits aren't very variable at all, and couldn't possibly be mistaken for Dunnock. Where in Norfolk did you see them? If it was the coast perhaps they were Rock Pipits which are a duller bird than Meadow. Female or juvenile Yellowhammer can be quite dull and I guess fleeting views could be mistaken by a less experienced observer. Dunnock do have some subtle streaking which is more obvious in juvenile birds, so if Mayeux's bird looks like a streaky Dunnock it is probably that.

    Threads like this one often leave me wondering what ID guides people are using, i find the illustrations in many guides poor to the point that they make identification difficult for newcomers and casual or inexperienced observers. Even the RSPB illustrations on this site are poor, they remind of bird guides of 30 years and more ago. Bird illustration has improve massively yet many guides continue to be printed using poor outdated images.
  • Good morning I have just seen these birds again , think I was right by saying they look like dunnocks but should have said from the rear , I have took a video but dont know how to post it , another thing they have longer tails than our resident dunnocks and they walk similar to wagtails cleaning their wing feathers every 30 secs or so ?
  • Hi Mayeux, you must first upload your footage to Youtube in order to obtain URL to post in media box in rich formatting!
  • I don't know if this helps at all, Mayeux, but this is a photo I took today of a Dunnock in bright sunshine, which shows up the streaks on the flanks.  It looks quite different to my mental image of a Dunnock as a rather dowdy bird.

  • Yes I can where you are coming from , I have been helped and this is a link to a poor quality video but I think its habits will help identify them
    hopefully
    https://youtu.be/sXFw32CyH70
  • At least one of them looks like a wagtail of some sort. Can't say for certain they all are - might be more than one species - maybe Meadow Pipits as well. At this time of year in north west France there only two wagtail options - White Wagtail and Grey Wagtail. I think the latter in winter plumage.
    Some of them look as though they are "anting". This is where they put ants under their wings which helps to control parasites. Strange time of year for ants to be active though so I may not be right.
    Let's see what others think.