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Mixed brown feathers, darker on wings (primaries, secondaries, tertials) and tail. Brown and cream specked head. Cream at centre of mantle. Tan with dark flecks/streaks on throat and breast. Cream/white belly with dark flecks/streaks. Grey (dark) beak, fairly short and thick, possibly crossed at very end. Pink legs and feet. Black eyes, possibly with light ring. Split tail feathers.
Spotted in area of mixed of arable, grazing and grassland on edge of forest.
Sighted in Dumfries and Galloway (south-west Scotland, UK). Although feeders were there, this bird preferred to perch on the wire fence and eat from the grasses, or cling to the grasses themselves. Smaller than Chaffinch, closer in size to Coal Tit.
2 Comments
Though I recommend investigating a bit, they have very different calls so have a look on the RSPB website (they have recordings) and try and match the song to what you heard! That should give you a much more confident ID :D
Hi Nigel, given your location, I very strongly suspect this is a twite. They look rather similar to female linnets, but there are a few giveaways such as the longer, much more deeply forked tail and the white/buff bar on the wings (easily seen in pic 1). The linnet has a more dumpy look than this too. Nice spot!!