Identification Please

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

I'm staying at Tapora in the Rodney District at the moment, the farm owner sent me this photo (which I have blown up 100 times & tried to enhance). She has told me a flock of about 100 birds landed on their roof one day, in her words they looked like grey starlings with a slightly hooked beak and were very flighty. They have now gone but a handful have stayed on, they sometimes feed on her lawn but are scared easily.

To me they look like female bellbirds but that's just a guess, and would they be in flocks of that numbers? Any ideas?

[flossiepip]

Possibly Greenfinches!

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

I thought about them too flossie, and it would more likely be finches than anything. But the hooked beak threw me and she said they were definitely bigger than sparrows.

[Liam Ballard]

I would say maybe just young starlings? They are all looking pretty grey right now and if you look at them funny they do have a bit of a downcurving beak. They are also bigger than sparrows and as we all know, form large flocks. Here's what NZBO has to say: "Juveniles leaving the nest are pale greyish brown, and join in flocks of 20-100". Keen to be wrong though

[Ian Southey]

From the photo I suggest 3 Greenfinches with a male House Sparrow on the right. You can see the yellowish stripes that run along the edge of the folded wings.

Ian

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Thanks everyone, I'll pass on the info and she can look them up. She said she'd call me if they turned up again in the next few days. I hadn't thought of young starlings, and they are quite grey-ish.

[zarkov]

Large 100+ flocks of Finches are common there at this time of year.

I never got close enough to be sure, but I thought they were Greenfinches

[FlyingKiwiGirl]

Haha....the farmer lady just came to tell me she sent the wrong photos they are sparrows!!! Bloody hell....

So, I'll post the new photo in a minute....