The following are the photos I took at Xianghai, China on 03May2009:
I originally thought they are Striated Swallow. But if not having a complete orange band on nape is not instrumental in differentiating a Striated Swallow from Red-rumped Swallow, can any expert out there help to identify which are which, or they are the same kind?
I notice that Striated Swallow is not listed in any category on the "Non-rare Species Report Form". Would it be possibly that there may be one or two that were overlooked / mis-identified as Red-rumped Swallow?
[ Last edited by msamuel at 1/07/2009 14:52 ] Author: Sze Time: 5/07/2009 00:38
Have asked Geoff! And Thank you very much for his teaching again !
His reply is as the follows. Share with all of you!
" I can only look in the textbooks - Field Guide to the Birds of South-east Asia by Robson or Birds of East Asia by Brazil are the best.
Both textbooksn suggest that Striated Swallow has much less red/orange around the rear of the head (the nape) than Red-rumped. There are some other differences like slightly larger size and heavier streaking on the underparts for Striated but these are relative and not easy to observe.
From the photos, all these birds show quite extensive orange/red around the back of the head and should therefore be Red-rumped rather than Striated. Also they don't appear to be heavily streaked on the underparts so no other reason to think they may be Striated.
Best regards
Geoff " Author: wgeoff Time: 5/07/2009 11:59
But looking at the photos claimed for Striated Swallow on the OBC website, I'm not sure it's as easy as the textbooks suggest.
Maybe someone who has seen both species would like to comment. Author: msamuel Time: 5/07/2009 16:07
The photo below shows more clearly the color on the nape.
Thank you for the interest in this discussion and the responses. Any further comments are most welcome. Author: lpaul Time: 5/07/2009 17:47
Geoff, I think some of the photos on OBI are incorrectly identfied. I hate to say it, but these include photos from a certain John and Jemi Holmes!!
The id of the two is difficult because there is so much racial variation within the two species, so much in fact that it seems likely that they both represent more than one species.
I find a quick method to separate the two is the shape of the streaks below. On Red-rumped thay are narrow and even in width, in Striated they are slightly thicker, but usually flare towrds the base of the streak. However, I've not seen this published so I'm not too sure how reliable this is!
Paul Author: Sze Time: 5/07/2009 22:18
Geoff and Paul!Thank you very much for your teaching and sharing!
We have learnt more again! Thanks a lot! Author: John Holmes Time: 6/07/2009 11:29
Thanks to Paul Leader for his comments about the Striated Swallow photos on the OBI website.
We have pulled our reference books out again : "A field guide to the birds of South East Asia" (Robson), "Birds of East Asia" (Brazil), "Swallows and Martins of the World" ( Turner & Rose) and "Handbook of the birds of the World" - Volume 9.
In HBW Vol.9, plate 68 by Hilary Burn shows six races of Red-rumped Swallow - including two streaked races - daurica (lightly streaked) and japonica (more heavily streaked). For Striated Swallow there are three illustrated races, vernayi (streaked but very rufous), striolata (lightly streaked) and stanfordi (more heavily streaked).
The illustrations (but not mentioned in the HBW text) support Paul's point about Striated Swallow streaks being heavier than the streaks of Red-rumped Swallow and flareing (getting wider) near the base of the streak.
The extent of rufous hindcollar markings does not seem to be as reliable as we'd thought and we're no longer confident that our OBI "Striated" Swallows - taken in SW Yunnan - are properly identified. To avoid confusion we shall amend identifications or remove them from the OBI website.
From a Hong Kong point-of-view it is interesting that the striolata race (see HBW etc.) of Striated Swallow occurs in both Taiwan and the Philippines.
"The Birds of HK and south China" (Viney, LAM and Phillipps) anticipates the possibility that Striated Swallow (and, for that matter, Pacific Swallow) may appear in Hong Kong
We have seen Steppe Eagle added to the Hong Kong "list" (photo by Daniel CHAN, ID'd by Paul) by means of a photograph. I'm sure that if Striated Swallow is going to be added to the HK "list" it will only be with the evidence of clear photos.
This is the challenge... let's sort out those swallows and photograph a HK "First" !
[ Last edited by John Holmes at 6/07/2009 11:42 ] Author: ajohn Time: 6/07/2009 13:16
I've always anticipated Striated as a potential species for HK and check any Red-rumped. When they started breeding at Kam Tin, I looked carefully at the birds hoping that they would be Striated. I think the most field guides suggest they are more easily separable than is actually the case in this part of the world. This presumably results from unfamiliarity of most observers with the Chinese races which are most similar to each other. Subspecies elsewhere are very different and, like Paul, I suspect there may be hidden species in this complex.
For what it's worth, when I saw striated in the Philippines it struck me looking rather different from HK birds, seeming larger and bulkier, but I don't know to what extent this was due to context. Plumage differences were difficult to pick up in the field. Author: Sze Time: 6/07/2009 23:55
Thank you for the useful information from John Holmes!
Thanks you so much!
And also thank you for the sharing from ajohn!
Thanks a lot! Author: Sze Time: 8/07/2009 00:04
Hi Geoff, Paul and John Holmes!
Due to the request from some Crested Bulbul Club members,I try to translate your discussion in chinese.
Anyone please feel free to tell me, if I make any mistake! Thanks a lot!
前帖:Geoff 主要參考以下兩本書:《Field Guide to the Birds of South-east Asia by Robson》及《Birds of East Asia by Brazil 》。這兩本書均建議可根據「枕位」(頸後的位置)的紅/橙色部份的大小來分辨斑腰燕(Striated Swallow)及金腰燕(Red-rumped Swallow)。金腰燕枕位的紅/橙色會比斑腰燕大片。另外,斑腰燕體型會較金腰燕略大,下體的縱紋亦較濃密及粗,但這些特徵都並不容易清晰界定。從以上的相片來說,以上燕子的枕位紅/橙色均比較大片,而且牠們下體的縱紋亦不夠濃密,所以應該全都是金腰燕。
我參考的書籍包括:
《A field guide to the birds of South East Asia》 (Robson)
《Birds of East Asia》 (Brazil)
《Swallows and Martins of the World》 ( Turner & Rose)
《Handbook of the birds of the World》- 第9冊(以下簡稱HBW Vol.9)
[ Last edited by Sze at 8/07/2009 00:05 ] Author: lpaul Time: 8/07/2009 09:46
I'm not sure where the rufous hind collar feature originates - but this also varies with subspecies in Red-rumped. One of the features for identifying nominate daurica is that the hind collar is interupted with blue (Vaurie: Birds of the Palearctic Fauna).
Whilst it is of course possible that Striated Swallow could occur in HK, this is largely a resident species. It is also worth noting that the Taiwan populations of Striated are somewhat problematic and that some authorities suggest that these are best placed within Red-rumped. Author: Mon Time: 8/07/2009 23:25
The following photos were taken at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden, Yunnan, China in Dec 2010. According to a bird watcher who is working at the site, the birds are Striated Swallows.
Striated Swallows generally have denser and thicker streaks.
According to "A Field Guide to the Birds of China", they are only found in Taiwan and Southern part of Yunnan in China. The Guide abandons the use of hind collar characteristics as a differentiation from Red-rumped Swallows. Having said that, I think the photos posted by cywong above are still Red-rumped Swallows.
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