Help required

[bobleponge]

I am struggling through the list of birds that SBP gave me, but still cant identify one.
Do we have any African bird specialists on here? I hate not knowing what I'm looking at?

[lynda66]

have you got a picture of it??

[bobleponge]

Doh!! Thought this had attached first time round.
Its not a brilliant pic cos I had to climb the wall and be very sneaky, as these ones are particularly camera shy.
Any help happily received.

[smallblueplanet]

All About Birds : How to ID Birds

List of birds of Sudan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Knock yourself out!

Edit - Looks like some kind of bee-eater or roller?

ps maybe you should treat yourself to a field guide for xmas?

[smallblueplanet]

Red-throated Bee-eater - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[sallym]

I thought maybe a Bee-eater

[bobleponge]

I was convinced it was a bee eater, just didnt know which one. Thanks all.
SBP Its on my list to the big bearded fella, African bird book for numbskulls.

[FionaH]

An elf in a bird costume?

[bobleponge]

Morning all. Anyone up for a challenge this morning? Carp photo taken on full zoom for a bird, a bit bigger than a kestrel.
Sorry I cant be more elfful but as much as I pleaded it simply refused to come closer.
SBP I am trying to finish "how to identify birds" but theres a lot to read.

[Two_Sheds]

1st guess; a bird of prey.
Looking quickly through SBP's list I would say Shrike. Looking at the first photo on the Wiki link, it could be a red-backed shrike?

shrikes impale their prey on thorns or barbed wire as a "larder". Nice.

[smallblueplanet]

Without going through the 'how to ID' thing or the list, I'd have guessed at some sort of shrike from its shape. It doesn't look quite the right shape for a bird of prey, does it have a long tail?

Morning btw boble - did you see my post on pineau?

[bobleponge]

SBP it has a reasonable sized tail, but as I am a bird watching numbskull I dont know how to define it. I will try and get a better picture this afternoon when they come back. TS, it sounds feasible as the tree it sits in is quite a spiky norman, although I didnt see any evidence of snacks hanging around.
Just saw your pineau post, aint it gorgeous???

[smallblueplanet]

Also bare in mind that there is often a difference between male/female/juvenile birds just to make it slightly more tricky! Surely you've a pair of bins to look at it through?

As for the pineau I'd suggest you start figuring out where/how to grow your charentais melons cos they're a gorgeous combination!

[bobleponge]

I do indeed have bins, a good security fellow never leaves home without them. Clearly I'm rubbish and had to borrow some.
They dont seem to appear till the afternoon, this particular species, so shall go and get some better ID then.

[smallblueplanet]

Perhaps the bins for birding and the bins for 'spotting' trouble are slightly different? What ya got some infra-red jobbies?!

How long have you been birdwatching, me & the OH started ages ago and still aren't very good! But it gets you out and about! Although with my age we tend to go for reserves with loos & teashops! :d