casts_by_fly Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 Hi All, I'll start with the bird ID. Last night I took a good long walk around the fields. Aside from the usual pigeons and pheasants, I came across a flock of birds that I couldn't ID. I had binoculars and they were at ~75 yd so I got a pretty decent look. They were dark grey across the back and wings (almost an irridescent green/purple tinge) but from the tail feathers to the beak on the bottom of the bird was all white. The undersides of the wings were white also. There was a dark black neck band and the heads were black. They were a little smaller than a pigeon in thickness but about the size of a big corvid in length. The heads looked like an american bluejay (almost triangular shape) and I couldn't tell if there was a crest. Certainly a blockier head than a pigeon. I was thinking it could be an immature pigeon, but it looked like an adult bird of whatever specie it is plus the head is the wrong shape for a pigeon. Also it had longer legs than a pigeon. Any ideas? For the intro, I've just move to yorkshire area from the states. Originally I'm from Pennsylvania (so the grouse hunting pictures on the other forum are from 'home') and most recently have lived in NY. I am one of the Upland Journal members, but I found this site a while before. I hunt (shoot) most anything from game birds and waterfowl to small game and deer. I don't have my FAC yet, but will be applying within 2 weeks or so to bring over some guns. If anyone is in the Beverley area, please do drop me a line. I'd love to go out on an evening shoot sometime, even if I can only help set up and clean up. Thanks, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunkield Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 Hi Rick aboard. Can't help with that bird, I was thinking Collared Dove until you said the head was black. Lapwing maybe? Maybe one of the FM's can help (Ferret Master or Fisherman Mike) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted July 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 Hi Rick aboard. Can't help with that bird, I was thinking Collared Dove until you said the head was black. Lapwing maybe? Maybe one of the FM's can help (Ferret Master or Fisherman Mike) That's it: lapwing http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/l/lapwing/ I had never seen one before so they were a bit different for me. I knew they weren't pigeons though. Did see a couple dozen wood pigeons though. Now to get a certificate and permission. Thanks, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul in North Lincs. Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 Sounds liek a Lapwing......or 'peewit' for sure. These do flock up in flieds at this tiem of year......upon closer inspection they do have a tuft on their heads and are extremely territorial.. They are a ground nesting birds. I believe form the Plover family, and when one enters close to their nest they will dive bomb...drop by your feet...pull up wing and leg it!!!! they do this in a ttempt to lure you away from the nest....using the 'pretend ' broken wing to trick you into thinking its easy dinner!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 It's a lapwing. One of my favourite birds. Their chicks when young are quite similar to baby phessies. They are waders and in the Winter can be seen flocked up into the thousands at resevoirs and wetlands. Unfortunately in many places they are in decline. They have many names but lapwing and peewit are the 2 most common. The name peewit derives from it's call which is a sort of 'peeeweeeeet'. A few other names are green plovers, plonker plovers and philibeans. FM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted July 20, 2007 Report Share Posted July 20, 2007 HAHAHA why can't I call them b.astard plovers? It replaced it with plonker plover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted July 21, 2007 Report Share Posted July 21, 2007 Sounds liek a Lapwing......or 'peewit' for sure. These do flock up in flieds at this tiem of year......upon closer inspection they do have a tuft on their heads and are extremely territorial.. They are a ground nesting birds. I believe form the Plover family, and when one enters close to their nest they will dive bomb...drop by your feet...pull up wing and leg it!!!! they do this in a ttempt to lure you away from the nest....using the 'pretend ' broken wing to trick you into thinking its easy dinner!! Hi, from the description it's a lapwing... I never saw their broken wing trick but when living by Stonehenge I once saw them playing in the mist just after dawn. The mist was low with the orange sun over the top of the stones, the lapwing were flying straight up then diving down into the mist over the stones, pulling out sharply and straight up again.... over and over again ... wished I had a camera or video ... cheers Malk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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