Nice shot, but what's the bold malar stripe ?

Hi Emannuel,

No malar-stripe here. Between the feather-tracts,the skin is bare, and when birds raises their feathers (as this singing one), the bare skin becomes visible, hence creating a false impression of dark markings.
On this photo, the pinkish colour of the bare skin is actually (just) visible:-)

Dansk:

Emmanuel undrer sig over de mørke partier på siden af hovedet og halsen.
Det er det nøgne skind mellem fjerbedene, der skaber denne effekt, når fuglen, som her i sang, rejser sine fjer.