ID CHALLENGE on Women Birders Australia 21 May 2020 by Janine Duffy
It’s a dreaded LBB (little brown bird) day!
Who is this small bird, seen on a big farm in Balliang, north of the You Yangs, Melbourne VIC.
Size: small (roughly House Sparrow size) Behaviour: perching on a fence, not doing much. Eventually flew off onto the ground.
Solution:
Ahh the streaky brown birds of the plains are so difficult! I remember well when I couldn’t see the difference between them – I really think birding is about learning what to see!
This is a Horsfields (Australasian) Bushlark Mirafra javanica
In this case the thing to look for is the bird’s beak. It’s head is all beak – it’s like there’s no break between forehead and beak. The line just continues.
The beak is strong-looking, deep, with a curved top mandible, and makes a big triangular shape on the front of the bird’s head. I imagine it could crush seeds with that.
Compare that to a skylark or pipit. A head comparison below – see how the forehead on these two is distinct from the beak?
Also the little tacker has a short, flimsy tail, and such a chubby little body. They are like a skylark that’s had a punch in the nose and a tail trim.
Once the shape is established, the colouring is helpful. There does seem to be a fair bit of variability in this species within regions – this bird does seem quite warm, almost rufous. I checked on eBird for Vic and there’s ‘blonde’ and ‘brunette’ bushlarks here. See a collection of pics here: https://ebird.org/media/catalog?taxonCode=ausbus2&mediaType=p®ion=Victoria,%20Australia%20(AU)®ionCode=AU-VIC&q=Australasian%20Bushlark
Importantly though, you can see the rufous wing panel.
Informative comments:
Penny Gillespie: “I’m thinking Horsfields Bushlark because of beak shape, distinct ear coverts and the reddish buff wing markings”
Penelope Lind: “Horsfield’s Bushlark: It has the finch-like bill and upperpart colouring of a Horsfield’s Bushlark but seems too dark on the belly and is missing the eyebrow stripe although there is a pale rufous streak. However, the bill is wrong for an Australian Pipit, Eurasian Skylark, Tawny Grassbird and Cisticola. This makes me think it must be a Horsfield’s Bushlark”
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