ML547260341
Contributor
Date
Location
- Age
- Not specified
- Sex
- Not specified
- Behaviors
- Flying; Foraging or eating
Observation details
This bird was found by Jeff Cherry about 7:20 a.m. along Sheepscot Road on the south side across from Eden Lane. After spending 3 hours searching the area, I relocated the bird on an open field sloping down to the west above a small pond east of the Sheepscot Community Church (Hill Church). This field is about 0.4 km NNE (16° = N by E) of the original location. The Fieldfare was with a flock of about 25 American Robins that were foraging in this field and in a small open garden plot at its upper end. The birds were about 280 meters away (measured on Google Earth) from my vantage and so quite distant. The skies were overcast and the light rather dim. Nevertheless, the Fieldfare was easily identified through my scope and reasonably well seen at 50x (Leica 82 mm televid). A large thrush of the genus Turdus, similar in size to the American Robins but appearing more robust and perhaps with stronger (longer?) legs. Most obvious was the pale gray head and hind neck contrasting with a “saddle” of rich brown across the back. A sliver of even paler gray showed down the lower back and rump when the wings were slightly parted. As the bird turned towards me, I could see a strongly yellowish to orangish-buff wash across the breast, this overlaid with heavy black blotching that almost formed a breast shield that was parted by a whiter ‘V’ when seen head on like this. The rest of the underparts were whitish and spotted with black down the flanks. In profile, there was a noticeable black face (lores and part of cheek) contrasting with the paler parts of the head. I did not note the throat pattern. The bill was bright yellow, like the brightest of robins present, but seemingly more obvious. The tail was dark. A striking feature from this distance was a thin line of bright white running from the bend of the wing posteriorly along the sides to the anterior flanks. I presume this was the bright white at the sides and axillars poking out. The feature was visible on both the left and right side. Several times over the course of observation, the bird flushed, and at these times the brilliant white underwing linings flashed and the pale rump, paler than the pale gray of the head, showed well. Whether or not real, I sometimes thought that I could see a narrow white edge to the outer tail at these times. The Fieldfare foraged like the robins, often adopting a hunting pose with body held more or less horizontal as the bird turned its head one side or the other as if listening to the ground. We watched it capture a large earthworm (see video) by grasping it with the beak and pulling hard upward, stretching its full length on its long legs, head pulled high. This is the first record for Maine and the 2nd I have seen in the Northeast (Feb 2001 at Fredericton, New Brunswick). The species has been expected in Maine, but those expectations were for the bird to be in a large flock of robins at some winter or spring concentration. On the contrary, this bird was with a relatively small number of robins. The first record for North America was one shot at Stamford, CT, April 1878. First breeding in Greenland followed a flock arriving there in 1937; then the next record for NAm was 1939 in Nunavut. The species first bred in Iceland about 1950, and became more regular as a vagrant in ne. NAm. from the early 1970s onward. Massachusetts has two records, and New Brunswick at least three (the 2001 bird was its 3rd). There are several more records for Nova Scotia, Quebec, New York, and Newfoundland.
Technical information
- Camera
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 70.02 MB