kkitty 24/02/2011 21:06
Hawfinch
Yuen Long 22/2/2011
(but with no eye mask?)
[img]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5293/5472013161_4875fbbe8a_b.jpg[/img]
[img]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/5473795436_4f612d3ca4_b.jpg[/img]
[[i] Last edited by kkitty at 25/02/2011 17:47 [/i]]
brendank 24/02/2011 21:21
Great find!!! It seems that there may be some broken or missing tail feathers. Do you have a better shot of the tail? It would be helpful for looking for cage damage.
kmike 24/02/2011 21:58
Great find Kitty and wonderful photographs!
Brendan I have to disagree about the tail. Hawfinch has a very short forked tail, which these pictures show reasonably clearly albeit from a side view. Indeed both the wings and tail look to be in excellent condition to me - while a HKU PhD study of the bird trade showed that some 95% of cagebirds show damage.
In my opinion both this bird and the bird I saw today in Lam Tsuen (which may actually be the same bird) add greater weight to the case that Hawfinch does indeed as far south as Hong Kong as a genuinely wild bird.
Cheers
Mike
kkitty 24/02/2011 22:31
Thanks for comments.
For Brendan's concern, I have selected one more picture for reviewing :-)
[img]http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5056/5473899604_2ca6b64b2a_b.jpg[/img]
I have seen two Hawfinches on 21/2. However, I can only find one of them on 22/2.3551sweat445
[[i] Last edited by kkitty at 25/02/2011 01:13 [/i]]
brendank 24/02/2011 22:51
From this angle it does appear natural although some photos of Hawfinch seem to have more white in the tail than this bird. However, there is probably some variation in the amount of white in the tail.
Stonechat 24/02/2011 23:57
3551d16c4689445 Wow...great find, 3551d5f02ecd445 Kitty...
lmike 25/02/2011 12:36
............3551d5f02ecd445
wleepoin 28/02/2011 08:05
Wonderful find and nice photos ! 35518f337f1c445
John Holmes 28/02/2011 10:59
Hawfinch
Great bird and photos !
kkitty 1/03/2011 18:36
Thanks again for the appreciation. :-)