What Bird is this? (description only)

snerkler

snerkler

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This morning we had a new bird on our bird feeder and I have no idea what it is, I couldn't even find it in my "Birds of the British Gardens" book. At first I thought it was a lesser spotted woodpecker, it was black and white and I would guess a similar size. However, it didn't have the red cap, it had a shorter squatter/fatter beak and red feet which I'm pretty sure were webbed (was on the wrong side of the feeder to be able to examine closely). Its face looked as though it had a mask on, if you know what I mean.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be? I'd really appreciate help on identifying this bird as I've never seen one like it before. I live in Derbyshire, UK if that helps?
 
Liam_89 said:
Possibly an adult female great spotted woodpecker ?
Pretty difficult to understand anything else especially with webbed feet on a feeder.
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Thanks for your reply. Yes it was pretty odd. It definitely looked similar to the great spotted woodpecker but the feet are throwing me. Definitely were bright red, and as I said I'm convinced they were webbed. I'll double check and ask my wife if she thought they were webbed too.

Hopefully it'll make a return and I can take a photo. I'll leave my camera out with the 150-600mm on just in case ;)

Wife has confirmed she thought it had red feet but can't say whether they were webbed or not. Maybe we had a mutant ;)
 
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The lack of red on the head suggests the female of either LSW or GSW. Neither species has red feet. Is it possible that what appeared to be red feet was the red under the base of the tail and it was a female greater spotted woodpecker?

Dave
 
Tringa said:
The lack of red on the head suggests the female of either LSW or GSW. Neither species has red feet. Is it possible that what appeared to be red feet was the red under the base of the tail and it was a female greater spotted woodpecker?

Dave
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It's definitely possible, but both my wife and I both commented on how striking the red feet were. That being said, early mornings can play havoc with your eyesight ;)
 
Any reports of a missing Kookaburra in your area? Not sure about the red feet though.
 
Not clear on size, which would be one discriminator between GSW and LSW. Latter is not much bigger than a sparrow and increasingly scarce (even in Derbyshire !;)) and rarely seen on feeders. GSW is larger (23cms) and very often on garden feeders. Both do have black feet however. Hope it comes back and you get the shot:)
 
granddad john said:
Not clear on size, which would be one discriminator between GSW and LSW. Latter is not much bigger than a sparrow and increasingly scarce (even in Derbyshire !;)) and rarely seen on feeders. GSW is larger (23cms) and very often on garden feeders. Both do have black feet however. Hope it comes back and you get the shot:)
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Thanks for the info, it was definitely larger than a sparrow maybe the size of a female blackbird or just smaller. I really hope it comes back now, the red feet thing has got me mystified and I'm starting to wonder if we were both hallucinating :eek:
 
Red - Webbed - Feet - on bird Feeder

Starlings (can have) red legs and feet - but they are not webbed and they do not look at all like a GS Woodpecker
 
BillN_33 said:
Red - Webbed - Feet - on bird Feeder

Starlings (can have) red legs and feet - but they are not webbed and they do not look at all like a GS Woodpecker
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I know weird isn't it. I'm really starting to question myself now :oops: :$
 
Unless it was a very confused and lost puffin then I think it was most likely a female greater spotted woodpecker and you've seen the bright red under-tail/groin patch and thought it was its feet? Here's a photo of a male (red spot on back of head, which the female doesn't have), showing a bit of the bright red patch it has on the underside of its tail/groin area. Notice the typical position of the feet when clinging to a feeder.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo, it was just a snapshot taken quickly through a window before it flew off! GS woodpeckers are very partial to those insect flavour fat candles, so perhaps get one of those and the metal wire feeder to put it in (like the one in that photo) and see if you can entice it back for a better look?

 
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Mr Badger said:
Unless it was a very confused and lost puffin then I think it was most likely a female greater spotted woodpecker and you've seen the bright red under-tail/groin patch and thought it was its feet? Here's a photo of a male (red spot on back of head, which the female doesn't have), showing a bit of the bright red patch it has on the underside of its tail/groin area. Notice the typical position of the feet when clinging to a feeder.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photo, it was just a snapshot taken quickly through a window before it flew off! GS woodpeckers are very partial to those insect flavour fat candles, so perhaps get one of those and the metal wire feeder to put it in (like the one in that photo) and see if you can entice it back for a better look?

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Thanks, I've looked at a lot of photos of woodpeckers today and none look exactly like the bird this morning. I can only think as you say that I mistook the red feathers lower down as feet, but it seems odd that I'd have done that. Well, on saying that it is me we're talking about ;)
 
Another possibility is a juvenile GSW. The large, white shoulder patches that are obvious in the adult birds are not quite as clear in the juvenile and this could make the bird look a bit different to the photos you've seen.

Dave
 
Tringa said:
Another possibility is a juvenile GSW. The large, white shoulder patches that are obvious in the adult birds are not quite as clear in the juvenile and this could make the bird look a bit different to the photos you've seen.

Dave
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I guess it could, looking at pics like this and seeing how high the feet are in relation to the red bit on the lower part of the body I could have misjudged the red feathers for feet. If I have I can't believe what a muppet I am :facepalm:

https://www.billoddiesbirdfood.co.uk/bill-oddies-great-spotted-woodpecker/
 
snerkler said:
I guess it could, looking at pics like this and seeing how high the feet are in relation to the red bit on the lower part of the body I could have misjudged the red feathers for feet. If I have I can't believe what a muppet I am :facepalm:
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Not a muppet at all. It is very easy to misjudge things when you see a bird you've not seen before. We have all done it.

Hope it returns and you get a shot.

Dave
 
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