The main decisions taken at the most recent Records Committee meeting were as follows
The record of a possible Himalayan Cuckoo
Cuculus saturatus at Tai Mei Tuk from 29th April to 7th May 2008 was reviewed.
Recordings and sonograms of Horsfield’s Cuckoo
C. optatus and Himalayan Cuckoo from various locations in the region were compared with those of the Tai Mei Tuk bird. Calls of known Himalayan Cuckoos showed a distinct fall in pitch between the first and other notes in a sequence, not shown by the Tai Mei Took bird. Although the Tai Mei Tuk bird had a higher pitch than all others, it most resembled those of the taxon occurring on Taiwan, the taxonomic status of which is uncertain. (The Taiwan taxon has been described as
C. saturatus, but it sounds much closer to
C. optatus).
Here are four different birds calling. First the Tai Mei Tuk bird, second a known Himalayan Cuckoo from Sichuan, third a Taiwan bird and finally a know Horsfield’s Cuckoo from Xinjiang
http://www.geoffwelch46.com/CuculusspTaiMeiTuk.mp3
http://www.geoffwelch46.com/CuculussaturatusSichuan.mp3
http://www.geoffwelch46.com/CuculusspTaiwan.mp3
http://www.geoffwelch46.com/CuculusoptatusXinjiang.mp3
Photographs of the Tai Mai Tuk bird allowed it to be aged and sexed as first-summer male, which may have influenced the nature of its call. There are no known field identification features to separate Horsfield’s and Himalayan Cuckoo and there were sufficient differences in the call to prevent ascribing the Tai Mei Tuk bird to any taxon based on the call alone.
The record was not accepted as Himalayan Cuckoo.
Hawfinch. The recent records at Yuen Long and in the Lam Tsuen Valley were discussed at length.
The date was considered suitable for a wild bird. Hawfinch has been recorded (rarely) from Fujian and Taiwan although not Guangdong. It is not as common as Japanese Grosbeak in south China provinces. On the negative side, Chinese Grosbeaks are quite commonly sold for religious release in bird markets in HK and Hawfinch could easily be within such groups.
Photographs of two of the Yuen Long birds showed extensive damage to the nostril feathers and the side of the bill in a location considered unusual for a wild bird. The behaviour of these birds, exposed on the ground allowing very close approach, was also considered unusual by comparison with wintering Hawfinches elsewhere which are normally shy birds. There were no close photographs of the Lam Tsuen bird to allow examination of its feather and bill condition.
The Committee felt that on the current evidence of these birds, Hawfinch should remain in Category III.
Female Green-backed Flycatcher records.
As there are no currently recognized criteria to separate female Green-backed Flycatchers and female Narcissus Flycatchers of the subspecies
owstoni, existing and future records of either would be marked as ‘Green-backed or Narcissus Flycatcher
owstoni’ until identification characteristics can been established.
Pechora Pipit
menzbieri records.
No records would be accepted for this subspecies until identification characteristics can been established.
The list of species and subspecies requiring Unusual Record Forms (URFs) was discussed. The following will no longer require substantiation in the form of URFs with effect from 2009/2010 records.
Lesser Sand Plover
atrifrons
Hodgson’s Hawk Cuckoo
Chestnut-tailed Starling – records from Kowloon Park
Small Niltava
White Wagtail
lugens
Brambling
Japanese Grosbeak
Yellow-browed Bunting
Please note the Records Committee may request a URF for any particular record (including those of the species above) if it is considered necessary.
The HK List remains at 505 species in Categories I and II. A new list will be posted in a second message requesting 2009/10 records.
Geoff Carey
Chairman
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Last edited by Record_Com at 14/03/2011 08:26 ]
