No. 16 Rock Thrushes and the Hawfinch


[Remember to click on the photos to enlarge the image]


Blue Rock Thrush


Secret Valley is a good location to see one of our less common winter visitors, the Blue Rock Thrush. Over the last three winters I have frequently seen the female of this species around (and on) the Clubhouse and in the adjacent car parks - where these photos were taken. However, I have only ever seen the male in the trees and rocks near the bottom of the Secret Valley access road, by the motorway crossing, which is where the photos of the male were taken. The rocky terrain of Anarita Park is also a good site for seeing this winter visitor.

Female Blue Rock Thrush

Male Blue Rock Thrush


As the photographs show, the male is a very distinct inky-blue colour, though from a distance the colour may not be obvious and the bird may look almost black. The female is a much browner bird, almost like a female blackbird,  though  a blue tinge on the back can be seen when the light catches it from the right angle. The female shows very distinct fine speckles and vermiculations on the front. Both birds are quite slim and have a relatively long bill.

The dark colouration of the female



Note the vermiculation of the colouring in the male and female


Rock Thrush

The Rock Thrush ( also known as the Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush) is a slightly smaller bird than the Blue Rock Thrush and lacks the longer bill. It is less commonly seen in Cyprus than the Blue Rock Thrush, being classified as a passage vagrant species, compared to the resident breeding (in small numbers) status of the Blue Rock Thrush.

The bright colours of the male Rock Thrush
The male is very brightly and distinctively coloured with a light blue head and orangey-rufous breast, rump and tail underside, while the back is mainly dark brown but with a white splash.  The female is a more dull but strongly vermiculated brown colour, but it also displays the red underside of the tail.

The Rock Thrush tends to live at higher rocky locations than the Blue Rock Thrush, and is a summer rather than a winter visitor. The photograph of the male was taken up at Anarita Park a couple of years ago.

Hawfinch

The Hawfinch is an uncommon winter visitor to Cyprus, though in some years there may be larger influxes of the species, which generally breeds further north in Europe. Though this bird used to be quite frequently seen in the UK it is, like so many once common birds, now in decline, and there are thought to only be some 500 pairs breeding there.

The Hawfinch can be a hard bird to see as it tends to spend most of its time in the canopy of trees - particularly fruit trees. It has a very distinctive shape, characterised by its very heavy bill (the largest of any of the European finches), a relatively large head, and a very short tail. It is quite a colourful bird with rufous and brown plumage, distinct black markings on the face and under the bill, and broad white markings on the wing and the rump. In addition both sexes have a pale grey collar, and there is a grey patch on the female's wing, which is dark blue on the male.

Tree top presence of the Hawfinch


The Hawfinch is capable of using its powerful bill to crack open seeds and nuts, and can even open cherry stones, exerting a pressure of some 180 pounds per square inch. Bird ringers are understandably very careful when handling Hawfinches! It is itself a wary bird and tends to fly away as soon as you get a good sighting of it, so photography can be tricky!

Female Hawfinch, showing the colourful plumage


There has recently been a number of Hawfinches seen in the Mandria area, and I was lucky enough to see a pair of them a couple of weeks ago, very close to edge of the village. Fortunately the female came to ground to look for food, allowing me to get a few pictures.

The spectacular female hawfinch



All photographs by Trevor Fordham.

22 February 2020









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