Subject: ID PLEASE [Print This Page] Author: panerai Time: 20/09/2010 20:09 Subject: ID PLEASE
I took this photo in Zhongshan University,Guangzhou on 2010-09-18
Is it blue-throated flycatcher ?
Author: ajohn Time: 21/09/2010 14:51
This looks like Hainan Blue Flycatcher to me. Author: panerai Time: 21/09/2010 21:24
ajohn,
Thank you for your reply, this is another angle of the same bird that day
Author: Beetle Time: 21/09/2010 22:56
Interesting - the second photo shows remnants of the orange feathers + sign of the pale triangle throat (which is shown in the male "blue-throated" flycatchers photographed recently).
would like some experts to comment on this! Author: ajohn Time: 22/09/2010 10:28
On these photographs, the blue on the throat and breast is much too extensive for Blue-throated (of any subspecies) but fits perfectly for Hainan Blue, which is a fairly common species in Hong Kong (and presumably nearby parts of Guangdong).
Juvenile Hainan Blue has a brownish plumage. The orange-brown feathers around the breast and throat of this bird are almost certainly the remnants of juvenile plumage, lost as the bird moults into an adult-like first-winter plumage (the older, browner feathers in the wings indicate that this is a bird hatched earlier this year). This is a possible pitfall with claiming Blue-throated in Hong Kong (or Guangzhou). Whilst there is a possiblity that some recent 'blue-throated' claims are in fact moulting Hainan Blue, at least some show a distinct orange breast and well-marked division between the blue and orange which would suggest otherwise.
I'm sure there is still more to learn about the ID of these species (especially females) and their pattern of occurrence in south China (are the recent birds all escapes?)
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