fkm

I am wondering, after they trapped and have the bird in hand, they still do not know if it is a female or not?

I hope the bird did not get hurt and released properly thereafter.

fkm

Quote:

Original posted by kmatthew at 13/09/2008 17:13


fkm, I think you can trust the experts on that. You need to get a licence to trap birds for scientific research and all of these people are well trained to handle these birds.

Dear Matthew,

Of course you know more than I do. But some time ago I have read elsewhere some "professional research" has caused casualties in birds, and another time that some research are totally unnecessary.

I think I have seen enough to conclude in many professions, there are well-trained professionals as well as mediocre and lousy ones. I do not take it for granted that any professionals can be trusted at the same level. But if you know them and trust them, I think I could too!

Thanks.

fkm

fkm

What is your point in questioning my raising the question then, OC? Or if this is an ethnic in this society that any junior member should never question another senior member? To answer your question, my point is very simple: I would like to know! You know it well for many years does not mean another member will automatically know about it. So, I thank you for your explanation.

On the other hand, your explanation seems to imply that our chairman is hosting these bird trapping activities (correct me if I am wrong), so if he is offended by my question, he is the one who should let me know unless you speak for him.

Now, really back to the APF, the humble reference book I have always been relying on says "未成年雌鳥沒有冠羽". Hence, according to the book, this must be a juvenile male. But if the scientists got the bird in hand and still cannot make any conclusion, can the book be trusted?

fkm

Dear Chairman,

Perhaps you are disappointed most of the heat is not on the identification of the bird...

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Without being a researcher in this field, my only source of information is the books. It never occurred to me that this is an adult bird because the book I have been referring to says "兩種壽帶的咀和眼圈均藍色 (shown in illustrations too)"! I guess I cannot rely on this book anymore when the APF is concerned then. I also noticed descriptions in some other books are actually only referring to the saturatior sub-species but not others. I believe I once even read something like "the AFC will turn white after fully grown" (sort of). If the white morph is rare in Hong Kong, I suppose such description does not apply to our birds then. (We should be having the incei sub-species mostly, right?)

I am particular interested in the identification of this bird because I pictured one that appeared with the same configurations (I don't know if this is a proper term for birders though...) like that you trapped and examined. ( http://www.dchome.net/viewthread.php?tid=559874 ) However, these birds mainly stay in the shade of branches and leaves, any color shown in the photographs may just be the result of white balance setting and boosting by Photoshop. I have only considered it as a juvenile male until you provided your insights.

There is another bird that I thought was an adult male Japanese PF ( http://www.dchome.net/viewthread.php?tid=496438 ) but then there is no sharp distinction from breast to belly!

Anyway, I hope some distinctive features could be discovered in future researches.

Best wishes,
fkm