Could someone identify these birds I saw by the estuary at high tide? TIA
DB_Fife said:Thanks rspbailey. I thought they looked like oystercatchers from a distance but they didn't have the red / orange bills or legs. Are these juveniles?
They are adults - both have their bills tucked in while they are dozing so they aren't visible. If you did see their bills and they weren't the usual brif=ght orange then the answer would be that they were probably muddy.
Bob's right.
It's easy to mis-read your photo as the bird to the right (as we're looking) looks to have a short differently coloured bill, but its head is actually turned away from us and tucked into its feathers and what we can see is most probably part of its white collar:
The white neck collar of Oystercatchers is an integral component of immature plumages at all seasons, and is first developed during the first autumn after fledging. In adults it is associated with the post-nuptial plumage and is most prevalent in autumn and early winter.