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| Plenty of interest in this White's thrush at the auction |
BIRDERS may have bid up the hammer price of a White's thrush when it came up for grabs at a taxidermy auction in Yorkshire.
The bird, a rarity in Britain, was only expected to realise between £70 and £90, but the price reached £140 - still not expensive - before the hammer fell.
Similarly, two snow buntings in a case sold for £500 against a pre-sale estimate of £150-£200.
Another good seller was a cased bullfinch where the hammer fell at £600 - well above the guide price of £150-£200.
Meanwhile, a beautifully-created cameo featuring a female sparrowhawk swooping on three chaffinches fetched £1,300 against a pre-sale estimate of £500-£700.
That said, the performance of the birds offered in the sale, conducted by Tennants online and at its saleroom in Leyburn, was patchy.
Many of the avian lots - including a hen harrier and a little stint with Temminck's stint had to be withdrawn from the sale after failing to meet their reserve price.
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| No buyer for these sad-looking stints |
On the plus side, a hoopoe sold for £300 which was midway between the estimate of £250 and £350.
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| Hoopoe - £300 bird |
It is likely that unsold lots may be offered either privately for sale post-auction or they may be entered in Tennants next taxidermy sale on April 17.
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| Hen harrier - failed to meet reserve price |
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| Bullfinch - hammer price was £600 |
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| The moment every chaffinch dreads - the swoop of a sparrowhawk |
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