Can someone help me ID the bird I just caught a glimpse of in the
garden, please? It was about the size and approximate colour of
a sparrow - and to be honest, it /could/ have been a (f)sparrow, as
I couldn't get a clear sight on it ... but it looked like it had
a shorter fatter beak, and a slight yellow tinge to its back ..
and it .. they, there were 2 of them, appeared to be picking off
aphids from the underside of the rose and victoria plum tree, which
I have never seen a sparrow do. It also had a more swoopy flight
than sparrows tend to.
I was thinking maybe some kind of finch?

--

On 1 Jun 2012 11:28:57 GMT, wrote:

Can someone help me ID the bird I just caught a glimpse of in the
garden, please? It was about the size and approximate colour of
a sparrow - and to be honest, it /could/ have been a (f)sparrow, as
I couldn't get a clear sight on it ... but it looked like it had
a shorter fatter beak, and a slight yellow tinge to its back ..
and it .. they, there were 2 of them, appeared to be picking off
aphids from the underside of the rose and victoria plum tree, which
I have never seen a sparrow do. It also had a more swoopy flight
than sparrows tend to.
I was thinking maybe some kind of finch?

It may be a Dunnock

Steve

--
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Sacha wrote:
Can someone help me ID the bird I just caught a glimpse of in the
garden, please? It was about the size and approximate colour of
a sparrow - and to be honest, it /could/ have been a (f)sparrow, as
I couldn't get a clear sight on it ... but it looked like it had
a shorter fatter beak, and a slight yellow tinge to its back ..
and it .. they, there were 2 of them, appeared to be picking off
aphids from the underside of the rose and victoria plum tree, which
I have never seen a sparrow do. It also had a more swoopy flight
than sparrows tend to.
I was thinking maybe some kind of finch?

A Goldfinch?

No, not even slightly. It was a tint of yellow, not bright yellow,
and not a red face, and no white markings. So no.
Could have been
http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/f/finch-8111.jpg
which appears to just be marked as 'finch', but a bit of a search
seems to imply that that is a purple finch, which doesn't come over
here! So that's a bit unlikely. Plus it doesn't have the yellowness
that I thought this one did.

Maybe it was just a sparrow. :-)

On 01/06/2012 13:24, wrote:
wrote:
Can someone help me ID the bird I just caught a glimpse of in the
garden, please? It was about the size and approximate colour of
a sparrow - and to be honest, it /could/ have been a (f)sparrow, as
I couldn't get a clear sight on it ... but it looked like it had
a shorter fatter beak, and a slight yellow tinge to its back ..
and it .. they, there were 2 of them, appeared to be picking off
aphids from the underside of the rose and victoria plum tree, which
I have never seen a sparrow do. It also had a more swoopy flight
than sparrows tend to.
I was thinking maybe some kind of finch?

A Goldfinch?

No, not even slightly. It was a tint of yellow, not bright yellow,
and not a red face, and no white markings. So no.
Could have been
http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/f/finch-8111.jpg
which appears to just be marked as 'finch', but a bit of a search
seems to imply that that is a purple finch, which doesn't come over
here! So that's a bit unlikely. Plus it doesn't have the yellowness
that I thought this one did.

Maybe it was just a sparrow. :-)


Have you tried a google image search for UK finches

Martin wrote:
Maybe it was just a sparrow. :-)

or a dimmock/dunnock
http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/dunnock.htm

Ah, could well be. Well called. Or, browsing the site, perhaps
a siskin? They have the shape and the yellower tone and the
stumpier beak, but don't seem to have the markings.

Good site, though.

Look also for female reed bunting. They look like sparrows but a bit wrong. I don't see them often enough to know their range of behaviour.

I may be wrong, but I thought siskins were around more in the winter.

wrote in message
...
Can someone help me ID the bird I just caught a glimpse of in the
garden, please? It was about the size and approximate colour of
a sparrow - and to be honest, it /could/ have been a (f)sparrow, as
I couldn't get a clear sight on it ... but it looked like it had
a shorter fatter beak, and a slight yellow tinge to its back ..
and it .. they, there were 2 of them, appeared to be picking off
aphids from the underside of the rose and victoria plum tree, which
I have never seen a sparrow do. It also had a more swoopy flight
than sparrows tend to.
I was thinking maybe some kind of finch?

--

Greenfinch?

In article , kay.a3ede17
@gardenbanter.co.uk says...

No Name;960371 Wrote:
Martin lid wrote:--
Maybe it was just a sparrow. :-)-

or a dimmock/dunnock
'British Garden Birds - Dunnock' (http://tinyurl.com/7tx85)-

Ah, could well be. Well called. Or, browsing the site, perhaps
a siskin? They have the shape and the yellower tone and the
stumpier beak, but don't seem to have the markings.

Good site, though.

Look also for female reed bunting. They look like sparrows but a bit
wrong. I don't see them often enough to know their range of behaviour.

I may be wrong, but I thought siskins were around more in the winter

They were around in winter, here, but they haven't gone away and have
chicks.

Janet

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 1 Jun 2012 21:10:59 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


wrote in message
...
Can someone help me ID the bird I just caught a glimpse of in the
garden, please? It was about the size and approximate colour of
a sparrow - and to be honest, it /could/ have been a (f)sparrow, as
I couldn't get a clear sight on it ... but it looked like it had
a shorter fatter beak, and a slight yellow tinge to its back ..
and it .. they, there were 2 of them, appeared to be picking off
aphids from the underside of the rose and victoria plum tree, which
I have never seen a sparrow do. It also had a more swoopy flight
than sparrows tend to.
I was thinking maybe some kind of finch?

Greenfinch?

+1
--

Female greenfinches are brown with yellow tinges.
However, at this time of year, all finches need to feed very small
nestlings on aphids, including sparrows.
Tina

"Stephen Wolstenholme" wrote in message
...
On 1 Jun 2012 11:28:57 GMT, wrote:

Can someone help me ID the bird I just caught a glimpse of in the
garden, please? It was about the size and approximate colour of
a sparrow - and to be honest, it /could/ have been a (f)sparrow, as
I couldn't get a clear sight on it ... but it looked like it had
a shorter fatter beak, and a slight yellow tinge to its back ..
and it .. they, there were 2 of them, appeared to be picking off
aphids from the underside of the rose and victoria plum tree, which
I have never seen a sparrow do. It also had a more swoopy flight
than sparrows tend to.
I was thinking maybe some kind of finch?

It may be a Dunnock

Steve

Dunnocks have thin beaks.

The photo the OP gave of a bird which looks vaguely like the one they saw looks vaguely like a female reed bunting. They look quite sparrow like, and have a slight yellow tinge to them.