Answers & solutions

Check your answers against our explanations. Remember, there are no ‘trick’ birds or extreme rarities among these...

BIRD 1

We start with what appears to be a bird in full song-belting mode, in classical fieldguide profile. There is no attempt to fool or conceal key features; what could be easier? They are all easy if you know your chats... There are almost too many key features! Structure-wise, it is a compact, almost dumpy bird with a relatively large head (implying small size) and shortish tail. The most striking plumage feature is the broad and long white supericilum (‘eyebrow’) contrasting with dark cheeks and crown. The throat and upper breast are a lovely apricot orange and the upperparts are dark brown, fringed with buff. This has to be a male Whinchat.

Key features

Compact, large-headed, short-tailed chat Prominent white supercilium Brown cheeks, crown and upperparts Orange throat and breast, white belly

BIRD 2

Here is another bird which is showing every feature clearly. That was part of the twist here, though, as this is a bird which is rarely seen as clearly as this, being a shy and retiring ‘chat’ which usually hides deep in dense cover. That is probably why its plumage is on the nondescript side, lacking fancy blocks of colour, wing-bars etc. The long tail, with a red tinge (compared with the rest of the warm-brown upperparts) is the most striking feature. The dark eye has a whitish orbital ring, the underparts are grey-buff, the wings are quite long (for a chat) and the legs are long and pink. Usually, just a disembodied voice, this is what a Nightingale looks like.

Key features

Nondescript warm-brown bird

Long orange-brown tail is most distinctive feature Pale eye-ring round large, dark eye

Long pink legs

BIRD 3

You may know that ‘start’, as in redstart, is from a Middle English word for tail. The habitual quivered tail of a redstart is striking and distinctive; this bird certainly has a notable orange-red tail. So, it is safe to say this is a redstart! But, there are two species of redstart, the Redstart (aka Common Redstart) and the scarce Black Redstart. Breeding males of both species have black faces and throats and a grey crown and nape. So, we chose a blurry photo of a shaking bird to trick you into saying this is a Redstart. But, look closer and you will see there is no white on the forehead and the black throat becomes a black (not orange) breast. This is a male Black Redstart.

Key features

Striking orange tail Grey crown black throat No white on forehead Black breast

BIRD 4

Like Bird 3, this chat has a distinctive rear end. The rump is pure white and the tail is white with a broad inverted T in black marking the tail tip and part of the centre. It is the sort of feature that would flash as very obvious if you saw this bird flying away in the field (which is probably part of the ‘idea’ behind its evolution, if evolution were about ideas, which it isn’t! But, you get the idea). The rest of the bird is quite nondescript with plain grey-brown upperparts and from what we can see of the underparts, they are buffy. The longish wings are mid to dark brown. The legs are long and the feet large, suggesting this is a bird at home on the ground. It is a female-type Wheatear, a bird which, like the redstarts, gets its name from its tail end...

Key features

Striking white rump and white-and-black tail pattern Plain grey-brown upperparts

Longish wings

Strong, long black legs and big feet

BIRD 5

Here is a bird which looks somewhat like a Robin (at least structurally) but in the wrong colours. That said, it doesn’t lack orange, it is just a subtle shade of diffuse orange and seems to cover the whole of the underparts from throat to belly. The mantle is grey-brown and there is a bit of a white eye-ring. Look more closely and you may see that partially hidden behind a sprig of spring Hawthorn about to bloom, the tail is fairly long and richly orange in colour. Aha, another redstart. The orange on the underparts means this is a female Redstart, hence the toned down orange breast and the lack of a black throat and white on the forehead.

Key features

Tell-tale orange tail Orange flush to underparts Plain face (but pale eye-ring) Grey-brown upperparts

BIRD 6

And we finish with a bird which will either be dead easy or a tad tricky, depending on your familiarity with juvenile plumages, a phase in birds’ lives we birdwatchers often ignore (but we shouldn’t!). The spotty plumage is typical of most young chats, as is the pale gape. Probably the most important thing to concentrate on is the shape and structure of the bird. Juvenile birds are often more or less identical in shape from their parents. This chat has a rounded overall shape, with the body and neckless head combining almost to make an approximate sphere (or at least a fat egg shape!). The big beady dark eye and mid-length tail seem very familiar. That is because it is a juvenile Robin.

Key features

Round, almost egg-shaped bird Abundant pale, rusty spots all over body Big eye

Thin, pink legs

MY FAVOURITE SITE “NEAR HOME, CASTOR HANGLANDS NNR IS A GREAT PLACE FOR NIGHTINGALES, PLUS THE ODD REDSTART ON PASSAGE” MIKE WEEDON, ASSISTANT EDITOR