ML344172651

Age and sex

Unknown age, Unknown sex - 1

Observation details

***Rare, an outstanding find by Cliff Hirst. The bird appeared tired, not moving much and sometimes closing its eyes. However, it did call at times! I thought it sounded rather like a peacock, a descending "klaaah". At least one observer has audio of the bird that supports it as the "Eastern" subspecies. Here are several ID points for Eastern vs. Western, some from an excellent ID piece by Michael O'Brien in Birding magazine, 2006. < Short, thick bill. Western typically shows longer, thinner bill. Although this feature can be confusingly similar, I think this bird falls firmly in the "Eastern" spectrum. Shape favors Eastern too, I think. There is a noticeable bill bulge just over halfway through the bill, not an even tapering as Western should show. < Forehead angle appears somewhat shallow to moderate. Western can show a strongly peaked forehead, while Eastern tends to have a shallower angle. < Plumage features support Eastern, especially at this time of year when both should be in breeding plumage. This bird shows thick, heavy dark markings on the upperparts, as well as rich brown markings on the chest and flanks. At this time of year, Western should show a sandier base color with lighter markings overall.

Technical information

Model

Pixel

ISO

71

Focal length

4.7 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/2.0

Shutter speed

8339/1000000 sec

Dimensions

3036 pixels x 4048 pixels

Original file size

1.81 MB