fatchun

In LV, 10-1-2011 afternoon







It kept jumping on the ground and did not call. It was not so active and no climbing behaviour was observed.
Would it be a greenish warbler? A Blyth's warbler or other?
Any suggestion is appreciated. Thank you very much.

Chun

kmatthew

I think most likely a Yellow-browed.

lchunfai

Agree , I also think this is a yellow-browed

fatchun

Thank you so much. But It seems different from those yellow-browed warblers I have encountered before.
The color or bill and legs are quite different. Do you think that is due to the mud sticked on it?

EricB

Thanks for the nice pictures.The white edged tertials and the lack of a coronal stripe  means this can only one be Yellow browed(Ybr) or Hume's Yellow Browed  Warbler .  It's difficult to nail without a taped call/sonogram.

The main feature that goes  against Hume's is the  median covert bar, which  is not usually so pronounced ( often absent or ill defined)
(or are these the only ones we are willing to stick our necks out for?) There is quite a range of variation though, and Hume's is not implausible.

Pro Hume's features include:The dark legs and bill,a  grey tone on the crown, and it generally being a rather dingy coloured bird.Of course that doesn't rule out Ybr, which is still the most likely candidate.

I find most of the  other quoted features really difficult to interpret/ very variable.I leave you to cast your vote on the following!

1.the supercilium is said to come more 'to a point' in Humes than in Ybr ( many of my Ybr pics seem to come to a point!)
2.In Humes the supercilium is fainter between the eye and the bill than in Ybr
3. Humes has dark grey ( instead of black) centres to the tertials, greater and  median coverts.
4.Humes has less ear spotting than Ybr
5.Humes' underparts are less white than in most Ybr
6.Hume's bill is slightly shorter than Ybr
7.In Humes the dark area below the pale greater covert bar is less pronounced than in Ybr

If Yellow browed really doesn't seem right, I'd go with your hunch. The bird is likely to  be wintering, so its not all over yet.Although, I suspect a sonogram or a hand job is probably your only chance of getting it past the rarities committee!
eric

sdavid

I think I'm aware of which members of the records committee would require a sonogram; however, I'm not sure how many of them would actually require a hand job? Though I've got a rough idea........

fatchun

Thank you for RUWright's informative comment!
I am grateful to all suggestion. Although the first sense of this bird is not a yellow-browed warbler to me, it comes to be much pointed to yellow-browed...

For the Hume's yellow-Browed  warbler, I am totally unfamiliar with it! Thanks for telling more information for this bird=]
I may conclude that it might be a yellow-browed warbler.

On the field, it seemed quite large, but may be the weather is so cold. Also, it jumped on the field but not trees. Finally, the black tone of legs and bill were strange. To sum up of these features, I am pluzzed for its ID, but now, I think my guesses of Bylth's leaf warbler and greenish warbler were far from acceptable guesses. I am sorry about that

Many thanks again!