YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Q

Do you know what’s wrong with this Little Owl’s eye (right)? It has a black eyelid that stays predominantly shut; it can open but rarely does. @MarcFreebrey, via Twitter

A

Birdwatch Taxonomy Consultant David Callahan replies: “Owls have three eyelids: an upper eyelid for blinking, a more mobile lower eyelid for sleeping and a third called the nictitating membrane, which has a pigmented margin for transferring tears and opens and closes diagonally from the outer top of the eye to moisturise and clean it.

“This translucent layer of tissue is present in many birds, as well as most sharks, reptiles and mammals, though the higher primates have lost theirs – it is present in vestigial form in the outer corner of your own eye.”

Q

I took this photo back in 2002 at La Mata salt lakes in Spain and I have only just rediscovered it in my archives. Can you help me identify it after all this time? Much obliged. Ken Flaxman, via email

A

Tony Prater, author of several wader identification guides and monographs, replies: “The most obvious feature of this bird is the long bill which is fractionally upcurved. This, together with long legs and mudflat habitat, enables us to identify the genus – it is a godwit. The two regular species are Black-tailed and Bar-tailed.

“The dark crown, orangey underparts and dark wing coverts edged warm buff and pale means that it is a Black-tailed Godwit. The combination of a relatively unstreaked neck and breast in autumn indicates it is a juvenile. Juvenile Bar-tailed Godwits have essentially neat brown edged grey wing coverts and lack the orange underparts of the adults.

“It is even possible to identify the subspecies. Two taxa breed here in very small numbers: the Icelandic form islandica in Scotland and the Continental limosa in East Anglia. This bird’s dark crown and strongly marked dark brownish wing coverts leads one towards islandica, though the neck and breast are less orange than many.”

Q

What type of bird is this? It’s the same size as a thrush and the head feathers suggest the same, but the body is like a Blackbird. Some one suggested a cowbird, but I don’t think so. It’s a regular visitor to my garden. Rosie, via email

A

Birdwatch ID Consultant Andy Stoddart replies: “This large thrush is a Blackbird. The combination of black body and brown head is indeed reminiscent of a Brown-headed Cowbird, but this species is an incredibly rare vagrant – with only five records in Britain – from North America; it also has a stout rather finch-like bill.

“The bird is moulting from brown juvenile to black first-winter male plumage. The black body and wings are already moulted, but the head still has brown juvenile feathers. These should be exchanged for black feathers within a week or two, at which point the bird will become wholly black and be immediately recognisable as a Blackbird.”