wgeoff

Here is the photo taken by Phoebe Fan of the possible Northern Hawk Cuckoo, taken yesterday near the school on Po Toi, together with a close-up of the tail





Unfortunately, there are no photos of the front of this bird.
However, the very late date, the brownish sub-terminal tail bar, the hooded appearance with some dark marks on the throat suggest this is a Northern Hawk Cuckoo - see the paper by Paul Leader on page 347 of the 2007-08 HKBR.

My thanks to Phoebe for sending me this photo and allowing it to be posted here

[ Last edited by wgeoff at 8/11/2013 10:38 ]

wgeoff

Thanks for the comprehensive review Paul.

Although I think the final judgement 'probable at best' is rather harsh for a bird where all the visible features, including what is visible of the front, are consistent with Northern Hawk Cuckoo, as is the date which would be quite extraordinary for Hodgson's.

Unfortunately the bird was not seen yesterday on Po Toi so may have left.