ML132883471
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
Observation details
This was a large bird relative to the sparrows with which it was loosely associated, and it had a more elongate shape and a decidedly long tail that it often held cocked upward. The bill appeared to be shorter than the head was wide, so it was relatively short for a thrasher, and it was only slightly decurved as it tapered from a base of medium-depth to a blunt tip. The forehead was sloping and the crown seemed to have a somewhat flattened appearance on a head that was unremarkable in its size. I thought the neck was relatively long and conspicuous, and that the body was elongate despite being relatively large. The wings were short and rounded, but I failed to notice either the primary projection or the placement of the wingtips relative to the base of the tail. The tail was about as long as the head and body combined, it was parallel-sided, and it was often cocked upward, but I failed to notice the shape at the tip. I thought the legs were long, but my views of them were not very good. This was a brightly colored bird on which the crown, nape, back, scapulars, wings, and upperside of the tail were primarily bright rufous. I thought the face was somewhat more buffy or brownish than the crown, but my views of it were also less than ideal. The back and scapulars were unmarked, but the greater and median coverts had a relatively subtle pattern that combined some suggestion of black subterminal-bands with narrow tips of white. I also noted that the greater coverts at least were rufous basally, but I could not be sure if the rufous was restricted to the outer webs of these feathers, or instead, if each feather was entirely rufous basally. The remiges also appeared to be mostly rufous in the closed wing, but I thought there was at least some dark coloration in these feathers, suggesting that the rufous may have been restricted to the outer webs and that the inner webs were dark. I also have a vague recollection that the exposed wingtips were dark. Contrasting conspicuously with the rufous upperparts, the underparts were creamy-yellowish, with a cinnamon wash to the flanks and undertail coverts, and relatively fine but well-defined streaking of blackish across the breast, belly, sides, and flanks. I never did see the throat or the lower part of the face clearly, but the undertail coverts (and possibly also the lower belly) appeared to be unmarked. I saw the bill only as being dark, but I likely would have missed a paler base to the lower mandible. I also noted the yellowish eyes, but I cannot now recall if I saw the legs or feet well enough to have distinguished their coloration.
Technical information
- Model
- Canon EOS 7D
- Lens
- EF400mm f/5.6L USM
- ISO
- 400
- Focal length
- 400 mm
- Flash
- Flash did not fire, auto
- f-stop
- f/5.6
- Shutter speed
- 1/2000 sec
- Dimensions
- 1137 pixels x 867 pixels
- Original file size
- 1.17 MB