A mystery bird has been visiting my parents’ feeder in Hampshire for a couple of months. It looks like some kind of warbler, very pale underneath and brown on top, dumpy and with flesh-coloured legs. I think it looks most like a Cetti’s warbler but I understand that they are very shy and would be unlikely to visit a feeder. Would be grateful for any suggestions. Unfortunately I haven’t heard any calls or song! I will try to add some photos but they aren’t great.
it does’t have the streaky back of a dunnock or female sparrow and the beak is definitely not that of a sparrow. Also well used to seeing chiff-chaffs in my own garden and it lacks the more delicate build and as mentioned the legs are pale.
Very hard to make out detail, esp right photo. Left one, it's hard to make a case for it not being a dunnock. Think it needs other photos, but doesn't look like any warbler to me.
I have more photos in case they help but they’re all equally terrible I’m afraid! It seems much paler below than a dunnock but I suppose colour variations can occur?
It looks like a Dunnock to me, the thin bill makes a convincing argument. They come in a range of colour, light, dark and speckly. I have all 3 in my garden
Richard B
Thanks for the extra photos. Still looks like a dunnock. Posture is very much so. They can and do vary a little bit. The sun shining brightly in the photos will also give more appearance of being pale underneath too.
Dunnock for me too.
But OP says it didn't have the streaky back of a dunnock, so I suggest whitethroat or garden warbler as plainer-backed possibilities, though garden warbler seems not to have flesh coloured legs.
Thankyou all! Very helpful. I guess we do just have a peculiar-looking dunnock in that case. Although behaviour-wise it always comes down from the tree rather than skulking around on the floor and flying up as dunnock tend to. Strange one.
JVenn said:comes down from the tree rather than skulking around on the floor
This time of year dunnocks are often singing in trees to attract a mate, along with wing waving
Tom Ash said:But OP says it didn't have the streaky back of a dunnock.
But OP says it didn't have the streaky back of a dunnock.
Before reading that, you will have seen that it comes down to feeders and has been there a couple of months. How many whitethroats and garden warblers have you seen doing that in March, let alone January? Also, there are photos to supplement the words. Both can be ruled out from the photos as well as the above.
Literally just this minute heard it singing for the first time - it’s definitely a dunnock. I thought it was something much more exciting