Little bird?

[Hivemaker.]

not a yellow hammer. Bill too heavy, too much yellow, shorter in the body, "lizard" patterning on back, no eye stripes;

Just as i thought, tis an oozlum bird, and if it had continued on its mission all that would of been found would be the birds backside.

 

[Bee-Key-Pur]

Cat food, well it would be if it was here. They bring then in all day long, so I leave a window open in the cat room so the live ones can get out...

 

[ROCKIT]

I can't recall having heard or seen a Yellowhammer around here over the twenty years I've been here, but perhaps because of the crops that were left in the fields last year I thought there may be a chance of them being seen.
The last one that I heard or saw was in in Pembrokeshire around St Davids.

Looking at the various pictures online and in my books it doesn't look like a Yellowhammer to me either.

Strange find then?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I'd be amazed if it was a canary!

I had quite a few hen canaries with that kind of colouring when I kept Border canaries as a youngster, I preferred them to the yellows and buffs (it's more or less their natural plumage - it's the yellow ones that were originally the 'sports') although i did have the odd white one and a 'blue'

 

[yeogi75]

i used to breed goldfinch canary mules,bit drab in color but better than canary's in voice

 

[victor meldrew]

Just as i thought, tis an oozlum bird, and if it had continued on its mission all that would of been found would be the birds backside.

Is that related to the Oh!mi goolie bird ? You know ,the one without legs that has trouble landing!
VM


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[Chrisfnvs]

Is that related to the Oh!mi goolie bird ? You know ,the one without legs that has trouble landing!
VM


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Or even the ooh -ahh bird (sorry if it is spelt incorrectly Latin is not my strong point) bird so named because it lays square eggs
the only evidence of an oozlum bird we see round here are tail feathers

 

[kristin..]

yellow hammer?

so the red band is caus its rare ? or isit not a yellow hammer?
best lookn bird i see around where i live is a gold finch
and i literly mean the feathered varitie
sorryabout spelling

 

[pargyle]

I can't see any numbers on the ring, so perhaps it's a male/female or year identifier from a particular colony.

I still think it's a female Yellowhammer ... the only other 'British' wild bird that is anything like this is the Serin but they really are summer visitors from the continent and rarely make it much further west than East Anglia and the South East of England ... Preston ? Not likely unless it really had got lost last autumn !

 

[Ely]

Looks like some poor kids escaped budgie. Reminds me of this -

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vic2zt4yTxQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]

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[gavin]

It is very like a serin - streaky yellow, forked tail, stubby bill, reddish legs ... only they are very rare and more southern. Could be a confused migrant though.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/serin/index.aspx

 

[pargyle]

It is very like a serin - streaky yellow, forked tail, stubby bill, reddish legs ... only they are very rare and more southern. Could be a confused migrant though.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/serin/index.aspx

Yes Gavin .... I think you are right - the photo you have of a Serin is much closer to the OP's photos than my Observer book of British Birds which shows a much browner looking Serin. May also explain the ring as there is a lot of research done on migratory birds. Doesn't explain how it got this far north though - Chester Zoo lost any of its captive birds ? Or a private collection ?

 

[yeogi75]

if it was a captive serin then should have breeding ring on as well ,to indicate it was from captive bred stock, defiantly wild bit high up the country but anything is possible