We are guessing a dyed Red-billed Starling, Sturnus sericeus, most likely that has escaped or been released. Apparently in parts of China, there is a habit of dying captive starlings red to increase their value. Can anyone confirm this? This bird was quite unusual flying between a tree where is was calling harshly and flying to lotus pads where it was foraging and then repeating flying back and forth from tree to lotus. The colour has confused us quite a bit, but we can see no other alternative, assuming that the beak and feet have kept their original colour.
However, if this is a rare new species, we reserve the right christen it the Jacana-like Starling for its habit of foraging on lotus leaves ;-)
Location: Huan Hua Xi Park, (Dufu Poet Park) in Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Elevation: 480 m
Habitat: park wetlands
Yes, a dyed Red-billed Starling. We often see starlings with unusual colours in Hong Kong - usually White-shouldered but also sometimes Red-billed or White-cheeked. They can be a variety of colours - red, pink, orange, yellow, etc. Author: sdavid Time: 28/06/2011 21:05
Funnily enough I saw a single orange bird today in a flock of 47 Red-billed Starlings.
Has anyone actually got any actual informatio of birds in China being dyed? It seems logical, but I haven't seen anything definite evidence of this. Author: lrichard Time: 29/06/2011 11:46
Apologies for digressing from the colouring, but want to point out that 47 is by far the highest summer count of this starling reported so far in HK. (The winter high count is 11,000+). Richard Author: sdavid Time: 29/06/2011 12:14
Sorry Richard, i had no phone signal at the time and then forget to call it through to Birdline. Birds were seen at Nim Wan.
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