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cachoid 1st cycle eastern mich, black sea

Posted: Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:22 pm
by lou bertalan
hello,

a bird that i really fell for: i was sure with such a scap pattern this could be only a cach. but then i got the originals and looked a bit more carefully. now it seems evident that it is a beautiful female 1st winter mich. the bill, slim and pale at base gave another cach impression, but note gonys, shortness and overgrown tip which makes it look more pointed. i think both 1st cycles and adults vary more in black sea michahellis than in western birds, at least the cachoid traits appear more often. i don't speculate about the reason for it at this place. this is my pitfall thread on BF: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=221155 and attached are the 3 pics that i have of the bird.

enjoy

lou

Re: cachoid 1st cycle eastern mich, black sea

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 8:46 pm
by marsmuusse
Hi Lou,
Ringed bird from S France (hence micha):
http://gull-research.org/ylg1cy2cy/1cynov/micha947x.htm

Mars

Re: cachoid 1st cycle eastern mich, black sea

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:53 am
by lou bertalan
hi mars,

thanks, i know ruud's pic of this strange advanced bird; you had linked it and ruud reposted it in the thread about "moult in 1cy", here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=131&start=10#p462
some 1st cycle michs seem to get many adult grey 3rd gen scaps, ruud's bird being the extreme in this respect in appearance and timing.
the bird in question (razvan's bird from romania) just struck me by the mostly longitudinal scap marks lacking anchors, a thing that usually is seen in cachinnans. however, a closer look revealed it being a mich: http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php ... 1327435507

lou

Re: cachoid 1st cycle eastern mich, black sea

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:10 pm
by marsmuusse
Hi Lou,
Yes, I see what you mean. Long, long time ago, this was called "scapulars with distict diamond shaped centres". It was said to be a good indication for .... heuglini 1st winter!

Re: cachoid 1st cycle eastern mich, black sea

Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:31 pm
by lou bertalan
marsmuusse wrote:Hi Lou,
Yes, I see what you mean. Long, long time ago, this was called "scapulars with distict diamond shaped centres". It was said to be a good indication for .... heuglini 1st winter!
yupp, but the typical diamond shape is a bit broader and conical - well this bird is slightly intermediate between the thin cachinnans shaft streak and the "diamond shape" that i think central asiatic taxons are more likely to show (heug, bara, cach -> e.g. chris' pics from the caspian sea last summer). the thick double anchors in some of the lower scaps however are not good for any of them. and on the other hand many heug don't show such diamonds, while some cachs do...- that's probably why you said "long long time ago" ;)

lou