I wonder whether this could just be an unusual view of a verditer flycatcher? The structure seems to fit better for verditer to me, especially the bill which looks rather long on pictures I can find of Pale blue but is short and stout on verditer. The upright stance is also typical of verditer. Also, the feet on the subject bird seem to be black, whereas those on Pale Blue seem to be paler, slightly pinkish.
Pictures of female Pale Blue Flycatcher are not easy to find but see these:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24469470@N04/3578447128/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30128498@N05/3333259074
And a juvenile showing the underparts:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sha ... 852/in/photostream/
Presumably to be a Pale Blue this bird would need to be a first-winter male moulting out of juvenile plumage (hence not showing much blue) so should be equally spotty underneath.
I agree that the rufous underside of the tail is not typical of Verditer flycatcher, but see the attached from OBI showing a similar colour on the underside of the tail:
http://orientalbirdimages.org/se ... Family_ID=&p=24
This shows a female Verditer looking rather grey below:
http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/view ... &extra=page%3D5
Perhaps a young female Verditer could look this grey below, with a hint of rufous on the underside of the tail?
Having said this, I would love to be proved wrong, and I certainly think it is worth someone looking for the bird again to check ID.
[
Last edited by ajohn at 3/11/2009 15:54 ]
