New bird in the garden ?

[logman]

Hi guys,

A couple of weeks ago i tried some differant types of wildbird food ie thistle seed in the garden to try and increase the differant species of birds comming in, up til now the only kind of finch has been chafinches, but the other day i noticed somethig very similar to a female chafinch but differing slightly in that it lacked the wing flashes, it had dark streaks/stripes on the head,which could be seen more clearly from behind. It also had white tail feathers that are visible in flight.

Its often seen in the company of a male chafinch or at least around at the same time. When a female chafinch did eventually turn up, it was much easier to compare the differances.

The clostest thing i've seen in my ID books so far is the bramblig. Your ideas welcome please...

[Cetti]

Hi logman, You could be right about the Brambling as it does have the white rump, but have a look at juveniles, both in Brambling and Chaffinch. The Brambling juv is a drabber version of the female and shows the stripey bits on the crown as you mentioned although the orangey shoulders tend to set it apart from the Chaffinch.

The other possibles to look up are female Linnet, Reed Bunting and Twite. All have white bits on the tail (though not at significant as the Brambling) and streaky brown on the head. Hope this narrows down your search just a little. The trouble is this time of year finches will flock together making ID a real pain especially with the females and juvs to add to the mix.

[logman]

Thanks Cetti, Thats given me more food for thought, I'm still hoping its a brambling but did'nt want to get carried away with wistful thinking.

I did wonder about the juv factor also but thought it would be in its adult plumage by late feb ? Thanks..