cywong

Would experienced birdwatchers please advise whether this is a Bright-capped Cisticola?

Long Valley  14/11/2010

bond

agreed, i also vote for bright-capped.

cywong

Thank you very much, Bond.

lpaul

Looks like a typical Zitting Cisticola to me.  What features suggest Bright-capped?

bond

sorry that i was confused by this bird.
i think of bright-capped in my first glance as the bird in the first photo did not show a whitish tip in its tail.
Second, the raised crown feathers also confused me as this was written as a feature in the book.

cywong

Quote:

Original posted by lpaul at 16/11/2010 14:06
Looks like a typical Zitting Cisticola to me.  What features suggest Bright-capped?

I thought it was a Bright-capped Cisticola because of the following features:
1. lack of a conspicuous white supercilium
2. bland face
3. relatively long tail with brown and not white tips
4. wing feathers with brown fringes, not white fringes
5. raised crown feathers ( seen occasionally but may be due to wind)

Glad to hear opinions of bird experts and eager to learn from mistakes.

[ Last edited by cywong at 17/11/2010 07:34 ]

John Holmes

Hi Cherry and All,

Photos of both types of cisticolas and some discussion back in January 2010 here:

http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/view ... &extra=page%3D1

Hope this helps
John

Beetle

So, is it concluded to be a zitting cisticola?

I don't think colour of the edges of wing feathers is a useful feature, as i have some zitting which have really brown edges rather than white.
However the light edges of wing feathers in zitting is apparently broader than that of bright-capped.

On the other hand, it seems that for zitting, the light bands on the upper back is bright and often stands out (brighter than the edges of wing feathers), while in Bright-capped these light bandings have similar colour with the feather edges.

For this bird, the white supercilium is still visible though it appears brownish probably due to warm lighting or variation. If you try tuning the colour temperature of the photo, you might see supercilium more easily.
The white patch as shown is the photo is too big for bright-capped i think.

Beetle

personal obervations
might be good to discuss.

cywong

Many thanks to John and Beetle.

Beetle's photos+comparison really help me understand the differences between the 2 species. Thanks a lot for the clear comparison, Beetle.

Now I agree that the bird in my photos is a Zitting Cisticola.

[ Last edited by cywong at 18/11/2010 00:16 ]