ajohn 19/03/2010 15:34
It's a male Stonechat.
A species with complicated taxonomy that has changed it's name three times in Hong Kong this year! (Common, Siberian or Stejneger's)
EMK 19/03/2010 20:34
Hi ajohn,
First of all, thank you very much for the identification. I would like to make sure my understanding is correct. Are Common, Siberian, Stejneger's three different kinds of Stonechat? or 3 are the same? Your clarification is highly appreciated.
Rgds
EMK
ajohn 20/03/2010 08:15
As I said, it's complicated. All 3 names apply to the same birds in Hong Kong, where the taxon occurring is [i]stejnegeri[/i].
Common Stonechat [i]Saxicola torquata stejnegeri [/i]was the official name until recently
When the records committee recently accepted the IOC list for HK, this was split and the form in HK is know as Siberian Stonechat [i]Saxicola maurus stejnegeri[/i].
IOC have now split this, so that the form in HK would be Stejneger's Stonechat [i]Saxicola stejnegeri[/i]
But these are all just different names for the same thing!
I hope this helps
EMK 20/03/2010 09:51
Hi ajohn,
Once again, many thanks for the detail explanation, very clear now.
Best regards,
EMK