Did I see 2 Fieldfares?

[rickeckley]

I was walking on my street - 2 blocks east of High Park -  and saw 2 strange (to me) birds mixed in with a small number of Robins.  I didn't have binoculars, but was able to get pretty close.  They seemed very thrushy - just a bit bigger than the Robins.  They had a brown backs and gray heads and black tails with very heavy spotting on their breasts, with a bit of buffy/light orangey brown colour at the top of the breasts (this area spotted, too)  They had dark-ish patches around the eyes.  Song was squeaky and chattery and was repeated with no musical quality to it.  In my surprise, they made me think of a Merlin/Kestrel/Wood Thrush mash-up.

I went home to check my guides and the closest match I could find was a Fieldfare.  I've never even heard of this bird and it seems unlikely to be in Toronto (though the guides said it can hang out with Robins in Eastern Canada).  Guides say it's a Eurasian bird.  Can anyone else offer a more likely ID or other birds I could look up to find a match?  Is it even possible they were Fieldfares? Has anyone seen these birds?  I saw them on Glendale Avenue just above Garden on the west side of the street in a low tree branch (a bit north of St Joe's Hospital) around 9:20am Thursday morning.  Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Rick

[MEGHAN]

Could it have possibly been a Norther Flicker?
I am so far removed from being an expert, I don't even want to chime in with an I.D.
But from your description, it's the first thing that comes to my mind.

Meghan

[Brian Bailey]

I suspect they were juvenile Robins, fresh out of the nest.

BB

[newfoundlander61]

Juvenile robing seems like the most likely candiate, they have fledged by down for sure.

[rickeckley]

Thanks for the help everyone.  I can rule out the Flicker ID.  I know those birds very well.  The juvenile Robin is interesting.  I've looked at a bunch of photos and there is a great deal of variation.  Some looked fairly similar and I get this is the most likely possibility.  Still, none of them looked as close as pictures of the Fieldfare did - even though I know this is an unlikely possibility.  Would the Juveniles be at least as big as the adults they were with?  The 2 I saw seemed even a bit bigger, but let's say they were close to the same size - does this fit?  Also, what about the song they were making?  It was nothing like any of the Robin calls I've ever heard.  It wasn't a "song" - not melodious or musical in any way - it was chattery, squeaky, kinda high pitched and was repeated a number of times, but to say repeat makes it seem like a song - more repeated pattern-less (I think) squeaky chattering.

Please keep new ideas coming.  I see why the Juvenile Robin makes the most sense - when I look at the photos, I can see I would have been baffled ID-ing some of the variations I saw.  And yet, I don't feel 100% sure about the Robin call and want to keep considering possibilities.

Thanks again,

Rick

[Brian Bailey]

Side by side, they look quite similar:


This, by the way, is one of the really handy features of the Sibley Birds app.

BB

[biglinguist]

I'd add another vote for immature robins. They would be about as big as their parents, although they might still have shorter tails. They would probably sound quite different from their parents. And their coloration can be somewhat variable. Plus, of course, they're much much more likely statistically!

[rickeckley]

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all the continued help.  The Sibley App "Comparometer" function is really cool.

I have to say that looking at the Sibley's drawings, while it seems statistically probable they were juvenile Robins, the drawings say Fieldfare.  Having said this, I have continued searching possibilities and see a wide variation in Juvenile Robins, so it remains an open question.  How to know?  Well, hopefully I can find the birds again.  If they're Robins, they should be hanging around and there are usually nests on the street.  I fully get this is the most likely ID.  But I still can't quite let it rest, and an un-relenting search to re-find the birds seems best.  I'll keep you posted if I find anything interesting.


Rick

[yep]

I believe there are recorded sightings of Fieldfares in Toronto so it is technically possible, however, I'm not sure you really have an appreciation of just how extremely unlikely it is that what you saw we're two Fieldfares as opposed to two juvenile Robins. They are a European bird and typically you won't find one anywhere around here.  I'm not trying to burst your bubble, as I say it is possible, but my guess is they were young Robins.

[Brian Bailey]

Keep in mind that if you do find them, if they are juvenile robins, they will already look different.  Identifying juvenile birds can be tricky, sometimes impossible, if you're not really familiar with the species.

It may remain one of those tantalising mysteries. Finding a single Fieldfare in Toronto would be exceptional.  Finding two would be...

BB

Sent from my birdroid using Tapatalk

[Glenn Coady]

There have only been three occurrences of Fieldfare in all of Ontario all-time (8 January 1967 in Rockcliffe Park in Ottawa; 24 May 1975 at Courtright Ridge on Long Point; and January to March 1981 in the Kipling & Eglinton area of Etobicoke in Toronto). I saw the latter bird.

Fieldfare is remarkably rare anywhere in North America. They likely originate as vagrants from the small south-Greenland breeding population. They are the most regular in Newfoundland, but even there they are very rare indeed. All occurrences usually involve lone birds that turn up in winter. The Long Point bird may have represented a bird passing through after a long winter stay elsewhere.

It is almost certain that your two birds were likely recently fledged juvenile American Robins which are often fattened up to look larger than the adults - your vocal description seems to fit them quite well. No one would likely miss the gleaming white underwing linings on any Fieldfare in flight.

[rickeckley]

Continued thanks for all the help.  I don't feel a bursted bubble knowing they are almost for sure juvenile Robins.  I just like to know what characters are hangin' out on my street - new young families or Euro-Trash.  I haven't seen the birds since, but I will - as always - keep my eyes peeled.

Rick