Inconclusive sighting

Can you identify this sighting?

Unidentified at suppressed - suppressed
Unidentified at suppressed - suppressed
Unidentified at suppressed - suppressed
Request use of media

Identification history

Comments from moderator

Photos and description are not clear enough for a positive ID with some discrepancies. Most likely a Mistletoebird. See comments below
Insufficient or inconclusive evidence 25 Feb 2017 ArcherCallaway
Dicaeum hirundinaceum 22 Feb 2017 ArcherCallaway
Petroica boodang 22 Feb 2017 SteveC

Identify this sighting


Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

User's notes

Red blush on the chest. It was in an area with a Scarlet Robin pair in November. Suspect it is a female with a nest in the area.

7 comments

   23 Feb 2017
Disagree. Postures shown in images not typical of a Scarlet Robin. My best guess is Mistletoebird especially from the third image but this will most likely have to go in the inconclusive box.
SteveC wrote:
   23 Feb 2017
Hi Ryu. At the time I thought it was a female Mistletoebird. It definitely had a red blush on the breast. There are Mistletoebirds also in that area that I reported earlier.
ChrisDavey wrote:
   25 Feb 2017
I cannot see red on any of the images. I am afraid we need to id what the image shows not what was seen in the field. Shape is correct for a Mistletoebird but I agree this is inconclusive.
   25 Feb 2017
Chris- We are able to take field notes into account to complement what is shown in the image- For example for plants, I often get asked whether some place was hairy or how many sepals it had when it's not clear in the photo. I generally never have those answers though... For birds, things like behaviour (up in the canopy, staying low in dense shrubbery etc.) may be more relevant, and can provide further support or disagreement from a uncertain, but probable ID.
Anyway, for this one I'm not confident even with the "red blush on breast" that it is a Mistletoebird, so happy for it to be marked inconclusive.
But for Steve's interest, it most probably is a Mistletoebird.
SteveC wrote:
   25 Feb 2017
Thanks. There is a large family of Mistletoe I have previously reported with photographs of the males of in the area.
I know the area very well and will try to get a better photograph - trees behind Target 7.
The bird was foraging in the mid layer around the tree trunks and branches. It wasn't interested in the top tree layer nor any real interest in the leafy branches. It also was not foraging around the base or ground. Definite red flush on the breast.
   25 Feb 2017
Female Mistletoebirds have red on the underside of their rump, behind the legs. Males have red on their breast but a thick black line running through it. Photos 1 and 3 do not have the colouring of a male.
SteveC wrote:
   26 Feb 2017
It was definitely not a male. I have sighting 3368462 of mature males. My initial thought was a mistletoe. I will rephotograph

Please Login or Register to comment.

Sighting information

Record quality

  • Images or audio
  • More than one media file
  • Verified by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
802,732 sightings of 21,767 species from 13,564 contributors
CCA 3.0 | privacy
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land and acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.