brendank 16/03/2013 00:06
Another interesting Niltava
Saw this Niltava today at TPK. This first year bird clearly has a black lower mandible. Although I didn't get a photo of the underparts, in the binoculars the undertail coverts and belly were lighter than breast but still orangish somewhat similar to King's Park bird (which I went to see yesterday).
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As a comparison this bird was the Niltava I saw 23 January 2013 also at TPK. It is an adult and clearly a different bird but it also has an all dark bill.
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I think all these birds are probably Fujian Niltava and the pale bill perhaps isn't that usefull a fieldmark. Of course, I don't know for sure and there aren't a lot of photos of Fujian Niltava available on the internet.
kkoel 16/03/2013 01:01
I'd agree totally that this is adult Fujian Niltava, but I must confess I fail to see how the two photos can't be of the same bird ^^". The extent of pale vent seems to alter a lot with the angle of view, as well as the wing colour. Nice shots though!
[[i] Last edited by kkoel at 16/03/2013 01:03 [/i]]
brendank 16/03/2013 09:43
I think the wings are considerable browner on the first bird than the second.