Id of two wheatears in Egypt april 2009

[RSN]

Hello

Last spring I saw two wheatears at Ras Shukheir that I had a hard time identifying. Both birds were only seen very briefly in the morning in bad light but I managed to get some docushots of both birds though.

Bird 1 - female Pied Wheatear or female Eastern Black-eared Wheatear, 15/4-09 - three pics - see here (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PYB8xNHlQmw/SeZPP7WQs8I/AAAAAAAACZA/T2uRZeK3R6c/s1600-h/_MG_6787.jpg), here (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PYB8xNHlQmw/SeZPP6i3lbI/AAAAAAAACY4/XBpDbP2hyi8/s1600-h/_MG_6785.jpg) and here (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PYB8xNHlQmw/SeZPPha9ceI/AAAAAAAACYw/Y8rBMlkR6As/s1600-h/_MG_6779.jpg).

Bird 2 - male Cyprus or Pied Wheatear, 4/4-09 - see this thread (http://aarhusbirder.blogspot.com/2009/04/egypten-ras-shukier.html). This bird actually showed a buff colouration to the breast (somewhat more so than what is depicted in the pics).

I would very much appreciate some comments on the id of both birds.

Best wishes, Rune Sø Neergaard, Denmark

[Brian S]

Rune

IMHO, the first image show a female Pied. The general sepia colour to the upperparts, with hint of scaling, similarly washed on the breast side and flanks, would indicate this and I can't see anything that contradicts that.

Bird 2 is clearly a Pied or Cyprus Pied, but the images are less good to help ID. It is hard to critically assess the primary projection (shorter in Cyprus/longer in Pied), and I can't quite see the extent of the white onto the lower back (Cyprus has less white on the lower back). From this angle you can't see the extent or strength of the colour wash on the underparts either (though this is variable, Cyprus often have more ochre/warm-buff on the breast and underparts).

One thing I can see is the amount of white on the tail, which seems quite extensive, with, on some rectrices, the white reaching the tip and limited black. This is better for Pied; Cyprus typically has more black at the tip of the rectrices.

Some of the best images of Cypus are by Daniele Occhiato, where you can see the variability of the colour wash, but also the tail pattern.
http://www.pbase.com/dophoto/image/33857153
http://www.pbase.com/dophoto/image/70362755
http://www.pbase.com/dophoto/image/70435398

Brian S

[Howard King]

Would agree that the second Bird is a Pied Wheatear - the first bird however looks more Blackeared to me