I thought this was a starling

[aquila 1]

Hi while we were in Cyprus a bird landed on the next villa's roof I took a picture thinking it was a starling, but when I got back to the U.K and put them onto computer I took a look no it is definatly not a starling, has anyone got a clue please. best regards mac

[PeterB]

Looks thrush like. I skimmed through this list.

List of birds of Cyprus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

But only found this.

Eurasian Wryneck - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Common Rock Thrush - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I don't think I am even close.

[aquila 1]

Peter you are a star I think you are spot on with rock thrush, the second week we got a report to say rock thrush had been seen at kensington cliffs, I would not have drempt we had one right near us, I have e-mailed cyprus, in the meantime I have been putting some pics on my report, all the best Mac

[PeterB]

Yes, it's a Female Rock Thrush. Nice one.

[RoyW__]

Originally Posted by PeterB

Yes, it's a Female Rock Thrush. Nice one.

Not quite...

Female Blue Rock Thrush.

[aquila 1]

Hi thanks but how can you tell its a blue rock thrush, having never seen one, but thanks for commoing in on this. best regards mac

[Greenmillie64]

ooh, the plot thickens, can't wait for the reply! Looks like their are soem serious bird trapping iissues on Cyprus... what's the story there? I am so baffled by this crap that goes on.

[RoyW__]

The two are similar, but Blue Rock Thrushes tend to be plainer.
Female (Rufous-tailed) Rock Thrushes, have a mixture of both pale and dark barring/vermiculations above, and tend to be paler below than above, usually with a rufous tinge on the breast and flanks, and scattered fine black barring/vermiculations. They also have a redstart like rufous tail and rump, which would be obvious if they fly away from you.
Female Blue Rock Thrushes are a uniform dull brown all over, with unmarked upperparts, and pale barring on the underparts (+indistinct pale edging to the wing feathers) - as seen here. The bill is also proportionately slightly longer than it is on Rock Thrush.

Immature and winter plumaged males of both are similar to females, so without looking it up I can't say its definitely a female - its not a summer plumaged male though!

[Twitcheruth]

Well spotted Mac,well googled Peter and great info Roy......nice to see a new bird!

[RoyW__]

The differences between female type Rock Thrush and Blue Rock Thrush are perhaps best illustrated with photos. Compare the photos shown in these links (noting the variability between individuals):
Blue Rock Thrush
(Rufous-tailed) Rock Thrush



The moral of the story - don't always assume that something that at first glance looks like a bird that you are used to seeing really is what you first think.
It's often worth taking a closer look just to make sure (especially if you are in a foreign country where you don't know the birds very well, but also in the UK), and even if it is just a common bird, it never hurts to take a closer look every now and then to help familiarise yourself with the features - and the variation between plumages and individuals. In this case if Mac hadn't taken any shots of this bird because 'it was just a Starling' it would have meant completely overlooking a new bird!


Note: If you look at photos of female Blue Rock Thrushes it is best to compare Mac's photo only with those taken in Europe/Turkey/North Africa - there are five described races of Blue Rock Thrush, with females elsewhere differing from the nominate race found in the Meditterranean area (particularly in the amount of blue in the plumage).