查看完整版本: Far Eastern Curlew

wingwing 23/05/2016 14:28

Far Eastern Curlew

MP 4/Feb/2016

ajohn 24/05/2016 13:55

I am interested by this bird. Do you have any more photos?

The underwing is barred, but to me it does not seem as heavily barred or as dark as I would expect on a Far Eastern Curlew; the underparts seem to be rather whitish towards the rear, rather than buff as on Far Eastern; and there seems to be a hint of white on the back, suggesting Eurasian Curlew. The mid-winter date also makes Eurasian more likely than Far Eastern (although a few Far Eastern do overwinter).

But Eurasian Curlews in Hong Kong usually have a completely white, unbarred underwing pattern. On your bird, the underwing barring is closer to the appearance of the subspecies [i]arquata[/i], which is usually found in Europe and has not been recorded in Hong Kong. There have been sightings before of birds resembling [i]arquata[/i], but I don't think it has ever been confirmed that these are not the result of variation in the local subspecies [i]orientalis[/i].

wingwing 24/05/2016 17:14

Two more  photo but in same angle for your ref.

ajohn 26/05/2016 13:29

Thank you for posting the extra photos. These show that the bird is a Eurasian Curlew, as the white on the back can be seen extending between the wings.

I will need to read more about the separation of the subspecies of Eurasian Curlew. Most resources I have seen seem to suggest that the local subspecies [i]orientalis[/i] should have a plain white underwing, but I wonder if there is some variation, or if there is some mixed breeding between subspecies. There are also other differences between the subspecies in terms of size and underpart pattern.
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查看完整版本: Far Eastern Curlew