Tuesday 17 April 2012

Spotty bird

I found this at Killingworth Lake today and was wondering which bird it came from. A spectacular geometric pattern that must be lost when combined with the other feathers in its plumage. Likely to be a duck so the main suspects present today were Tufted Duck, Mallard, Pochard and Goldeneye although Goosander and Great Crested Grebe shouldn't be ruled out.

4 comments:

  1. That's unusual, it looks like it should be something obvious but it isn't to me :-)

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  2. Probably wrong, rubbish with feathers n stuff, but looks a bit like guineafowl to me ??

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  3. I'd agree with Guineafowl, although I had to check my book. It appears to be a secondary feather and the description given is 'secondaries are black with short white streaks along the shafts, bordered by white dots; there are rows of short white bars along the outer edges'. Seems to fit the bill, or the feather in this case,

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  4. Thanks chaps. I totally skipped past Guineafowl in the Helm guide and the illustration doesn't do it justice.
    Wonder where it's wandered in from or perhaps the ladies of Killingworth use them for decoration!

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