BIRD 5

Another classic LBJ, this is another small, streaky brown bird. Its little triangular bill points to it being one of the smaller finches. The streaky brown plumage narrows the bird down to the redpolls, Siskin, Greenfinch, Twite and Linnet. The redpolls have tiny yellowish bills and a black bib and lores in all plumages (and usually a black and red forehead). So we can rule these out, as well as Greenfinch and Siskin, by the complete absence of yellow in the plumage. So, it looks like a toss-up between Twite and Linnet. The pale grey throat, grey-brown head, relatively light streaking on the underparts all point to this being a Linnet.

KEY FEATURES †Classic LBJ, with finch-like structure †Short, dark, seedeater’s bill †Streaked plumage, no bib †Pale panel in dark wing