Help identifying a Pipit in South Africa

Hello All,

Here is another one that I gave up on after a lot of head scratching. You would have thought that with that yellow eye patch it would not be too hard. But alas... I took this shot in southern Kruger National Park in South Africa. I think it's a Pipit but since it doesn't come close to anything in my copy of Roberts', I'm guessing it's immature. One thing that may help in the id is that if you look carefully at the chin, neck and breast, you can just about see yellow feathers peeking through. Can anyone identify the species?

http://www.crphotography.net/public/...61231-9765.jpg

Best regards,

Cezary

I don't know what it is, but it's not a pipit. Structure, posture, habitat, and overall plumage pattern are all wrong for any pipit species of which I'm aware. If I had to take a wild guess, I'd look maybe at greenbuls or something similar.

Thanks for setting me straight Chris!

I had another long look at Roberts and I think I figured it out. I'm now pretty sure it's a young Red-billed Oxpecker. The eye-ring and plumage are a close match to an adult. I also found a source on the internet confirming that immatures have a black iris that only turns red when they reach adulthood. The only thing that isn't quite right is the size of the bill which is why I think we're looking at a relatively young individual here.

Regards,

Cezary

That seems like a plausible ID. My only comment is that for a fledged bird like this, the bill size isn't going to vary much, if at all, from an adult bird.

Apologies for coming in so late with this one.
The bird is a Wattled Starling - non breeding adult. Yellow facial skin behind the eye, long pinkish brown legs and dark wing and tail feathers differentiate it from the juvenile oxpecker which has black legs and they normally assume a crouching posture. My guess is a female which has dark brown as opposed to black wing and tail feathers. Wonderful to see the males in full breeding plumage with the wattles.
Cezary if you are looking at the latest Roberts Field Guide both birds are illustrated on the same page.

Thanks Pieter!

I just came back from Kenya where I saw and shot the same species and my mistake as I was sorting through those shots with the help of 'Birds of East Africa'. I thought I'd come back and correct myself for the benefit of anyone who might dig out this old thread but I see you've done it for me.

Thanks again!

Cezary