Yellow bird feather identification

General birdwatching discussion, help with bird identification, and all other things relating to wild birds and birding in NZ that don't fit in one of the other forums.
helinnmae
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:27 pm

Yellow bird feather identification

Postby helinnmae » Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:37 am

Message on behalf of my student. . . Hello, I am 11 Years old. I found 2 feathers. They have a white dot on the tips. They are black from half way to the tip. The other end is white on one side and bright yellow on the other side. Is it from a yellowhammer or a Yellow Head? They were found in Lower Hutt. They are five centimetres long.
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Nikki McArthur
Posts: 350
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2011 5:49 pm

Re: Yellow bird feather identification

Postby Nikki McArthur » Wed Jun 20, 2018 9:47 am

Hi there,

Do they look a bit like the feathers in the picture below? This bird is a goldfinch, which is a species that's quite common around Lower Hutt. You can safely disregard yellowhead as it's a very rare bird found only in a few remote locations in the South Island & its offshore islands. Yellowhammer wing feathers are reddish-brown in colour, so perhaps not too likely either.

Goldfinches are lovely looking birds - this picture doesn't do them justice, so I recommend looking them up in the fieldguide, or online.

Best regards,
Nikki

Capture.JPG
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helinnmae
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:27 pm

Re: Yellow bird feather identification

Postby helinnmae » Wed Jun 20, 2018 2:30 pm

Thank you Nikki!
My feathers Look Like Your picture! I don't think I've ever seen a goldfinch. I will put it on my list of birds to look for. Today I saw sparrows, blackbirds, chaffinches and piwakawaka.
Thank you for your help.
Bird Boy from Wild Kratts
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Nikki McArthur
Posts: 350
Joined: Sun Jun 26, 2011 5:49 pm

Re: Yellow bird feather identification

Postby Nikki McArthur » Wed Jun 20, 2018 3:18 pm

You're welcome, I'm glad we could solve the mystery! If you'd like to find out what birds you can see around Lower Hutt, the New Zealand eBird website is really good: https://ebird.org/newzealand/places

If you go to this webpage and type "Lower Hutt" into the search box, it will give you a list of all the birds that have been seen by birdwatchers in and around Lower Hutt. According to this website there are 114 species you can look out for, though some of them are very rare!

Best wishes,
Nikki

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