[ Last edited by wazy at 9/07/2012 14:25 ] Author: kmike Time: 9/07/2012 07:56
Yes this is a Speckled Piculet. Nice Shots.
Was this photo taken in Hong Kong? If it was please add the location to your photo as this is a rare bird in Hong Kong with less than 10 records.
Cheers
Mike K Author: wazy Time: 9/07/2012 08:57
Yes, it was taken in HK, Long Valley and next to the rice paddy on 7 July.
It was found in open area, rather than in woodland. Author: thinfor Time: 9/07/2012 09:11
This is definitely a remarkable record! Author: Ronaldo Time: 9/07/2012 14:22
could it be an escape? or is it also found in open areas? thought it was more of a (low) montane forest bird. Author: wcaptain Time: 10/07/2012 10:20
There was a woodpecker record in the late 1990s at Ho Sheung Heung.
Grey-headed woodpecker (Picus canus): The first Hong Kong records since 1977 with notes on the natural history of the species - by T.D. Dahmer, H.K. Kwok & L.Young
No.21: December 1997 ISBN 962-7001-21-X MEMOIRS OF THE HONG KONG NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY Author: kmike Time: 10/07/2012 12:46
An astonishing record!
Thanks for providing the location.
Do you have any more pictures from the back - even if the quality is not so good?
Cheers
Mike Author: cgeoff Time: 10/07/2012 13:08
My personal feeling about the Grey-headed Woodpecker record in 1997 is that it was more likely to be an ex-captive individual than of natural occurrence. Woodpeckers are caught and transported to South China (Guangzhou) from as far as Xinjiang; this fact I was surprised to learn during a trip to that province in the late 1990s. Shenzhen is mighty close to Ho Sheung Heung, and so I personally would not rule it out.
It is possible that the piculet was similarly assisted, but at the same time they have occurred in recent years and, as a very small woodpecker, their habitat preferences are probably not as restricted as larger species. Although I have only seen it in forest or open woodland, the latter is present in the LV area. It would be interesting to know if others have seen it in China in habitats similar to those at LV.
GeoffC Author: brendank Time: 10/07/2012 13:25
There was a photo of a Speckled Piculet in June around this time at TPK that was shown to me. I don't know more specific details than that. Perhaps they might be in the process of colonizing our area. Author: wcaptain Time: 10/07/2012 16:09
The habitat of this small woodpecker I seen in elsewhere is something like Tai Po Kau. So, it appears that the woodland at LV does not match with the typical habitat.
Maybe the woodland at LV is a fengshui wood which can support the birds temporarily.
Regarding the bird trade, according to the KFBG report, the live bird trade of prayer birds at Bird Street in 2008/09 is just about 1/5 of 2005, probably due to the bird flu issue. Other birds commonly around were just magpie robin, rubythroate, mesia, peking robin and bulbuls. Birds from africa are also present. It is expected that this bird originated from the Bird Street may be very low. But cannot rule out it is an escaped bird from a keeper around Ho Sheung Heung. Author: lmichael Time: 10/07/2012 17:37
I think the habitat is not so surprising for a wild Speckled Piculet. I was responsible for the first Hong Kong record, trapped in rather degraded shrubland in Sai Kung. Also I have seen this species in farmland edge riparian bamboos in Yunnan. A key habitat requirement is bamboos and there are lots of these around Long Valley; also remember that it is not so far from Ho Sheung Heung fung shui wood and there is a patchwork of woodland all the way north from there to the Shenzhen border with forest on the other side in the east. So a wandering bird moving through forest and bamboo patches is not so unlikely for this species, it is not a closed canopy forest specialist.
Date is interesting; my Sai Kung record (which was a newly fledged juvenile) was in mid-August, is summer wandering a feature of this species, post-breeding dispersal?
Mike Leven Author: wazy Time: 10/07/2012 23:26
It was a very brief moment of encounter, the bird took-off and vanished.
I did not expected anything like that and did not trace after.....
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