Sze

My firend took the picture at southwest water near Shum Wat, Lantau Island on 01/11/2009! (Sorry! The date should correct to 08Nov2009)
Can anyone help to identify it?
Thanks a lot and Sorry for the poor quality of the photos!

[ Last edited by Sze at 11/11/2009 02:08 ]

cgeoff

It's a Lesser Frigatebird.

Good record !

Geoff

Sze

Oh! Thank you very much Geoff!

ajohn

Isn't the pattern of white on the belly more indicative of Christmas Island Frigatebird? (White spurs extending from mid-way along the white area towards the mid-point of the wing, white not extending fully into the wing, white extending broadly as far back as the legs). The late autumn date I think is also more typical of CIF records in Hong Kong

[ Last edited by ajohn at 10/11/2009 14:17 ]

相思仔

Thanks Sze for posting the photos for me.  I was so fascinated by this big bird that I just took a few pictures and watched it with my eyes.  But I borrowed two pictures from somebody else on board.

Would that help a bit in identifying who this is ?

bird 3.jpg (156.87 KB)

15/11/2009 17:21

bird 4.jpg (178.96 KB)

15/11/2009 17:22

[ Last edited by 相思仔 at 15/11/2009 17:23 ]

cmichaell

Dear Sze,

The last two pics clearly show your bird is a Lesser Frigatebird. The white spurs lead off from the front of the triangular belly patch which has its point towards the tail. In profile, the bill is also not long enough for Christmas Island.

It just goes to show how misleading photos can be. The first two did give an impression of a longer-winged bird with the white spurs extending from nearer the middle of the belly patch due to the photo angle. Its always good to have a series of photos from different angles to help with ID.

Mike Chalmers

相思仔

Thanks a lot, Mike.

Sze

Mike! Thank you so much!