Non-boaty question about birds

[Twister_Ken]

Any birders out there? Or know of a forum like this one for birdy questions?

Black and white, about the size and shape of a blue tit, no long tail so not a long-tailed tit, and stripier (especially on the head) than a coal tit. Any ideas?

And I am likely to have seen a gold crest in a London suburb pear tree?


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[lyc]

It doesn't sound like a goldcrest

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[tcm]

In a pear tree, it must have been a partridge. Or possibly a very grimy urban blue tit that has been cr@pped on by a pigeon.

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[Twister_Ken]

Insufficiently specific

Err, no, it doesn't The B&W one and the alleged goldcrest are not the same birds.

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[jimi]

Its a zebra finch ... was it in Finchley perchance?

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[StugeronSteve]

No idea but you seem to know a lot about Tits!

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[dulcibella]

Juvenile long-tailed tit?

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[Stemar]

Black and white stripey job could be a pied wagtail. If it's tail was bobbing up and down constantly then the ID's definite.

A goldcrest in a London suburb is a possibility, but from memory, more likely in/near conifers than a pear tree.

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[Evadne]

Goldcrest is more green/olive than black & white, paler underneath, but otherwise it sounds right, especially if you had your reading glasses on. The crest is tiny, I'm not 100% sure but I think it's a male-only feature and the female has black & white stripes as you describe. Goldcrests are far more common than you'd credit, you hear them more than you see them (very high-pitched peep-peep-ing, like bunches of blue & long-tailed tits.) Often feed high up in trees, said to have a penchant for conifers but there are lots in open country and deciduous woods. I expect London has it's fair share.

Few other birds of that size, apart from other tits. The pied wagtail and spotted flycatcher are probably too big, bigger than sparrow-sized, and have plain heads.

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[tcm]

In London, there's an easy way to tell what bird it is - just look at the sign above the shop. It'll say "Kentucky Fried Cuckoo" or whatever their speciality happens to be.



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[Evadne]

I believe in soho they don't use words, or even pictures but display the actual "birds" in the shop window (or doorway).
An otherwise intelligent friend who was a Londoner knew that there were only 3 types of birds: sparrers, pijins and ducks. He puzzled someone by saying he'd seen ducks in their local river until he described them: quite big, with long necks and white in colour.

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