bernieszu

Yesterday during a huge thunderstorm I spotted a small bird which was feeding on a tree outside my window.  It looked like a hummingbird to me, but apparently they only live in the US.  My students told me that the name for it in Chinese is the bee bird.  I searched the birds of Hong Kong and the nearest thing I could find was a hook tailed sunbird, but the information given for that bird says it can feed on the wing but prefers to feed while perching.  I have never seen this bird perching, always feeding on the wing.  Can anyone tell me what the common English name or the scientific name is for this bird?  I was amazed by the fact that it seemed totally oblivious to the torrential downpour!  Here's a link to a video I took of it (sorry for the poor quality).

http://bernieszu.4videosharing.com/media/video/113689
Thanks,

Bernieszu

ctakming

I think it is not a bird. It is a moth, may be a hawk moth: Macrogloossum sp..

mkitwah

According to reference book, there are eight types of hawk moth in HK. The attached photo is one of them.

Fa Sum Hang, Siu Lek Yuen, Shatin, NT, HK
19/8/2007

FaSumHang-070819-109.jpg (51.68 KB)
Hawk Moth

23/09/2009 00:12

kmatthew

Agree, I've heard many accounts from non-birders who claim they've seen a Hummingbird in HK. All of them are probably just one of the many species of hawk moths, I think one species is actually known as the Hummingbird Hawk Moth!! I think we all know why.

bernieszu

Thank you for your answers.  I really think it looks more like a bird, but I'm probably wrong.  I just went to flickr and google images and yes, the hummingbird hawk moth does look very much like what I saw.  I think that makes the fact it was feeding in a downpour even more surprising!
Here are a couple of blurry stills captured from the video.

hb1a.jpg (32.54 KB)
picture1

24/09/2009 23:19

hb2a.jpg (22.17 KB)
picture2

24/09/2009 23:19

[ Last edited by bernieszu at 24/09/2009 23:30 ]