Slaty-backed Flycatcher Ficedula hodgsonii 銹胸藍姬鶲
Category I. Accidental.
IDENTIFICATION
Feb. 2008, James Lam. First-winter.
13–13·5 cm. Small flycatcher with relatively small head and bill. Females and first-winter birds are generally plain grey-brown and have a pale wing bar, rufescent tinge to the rump and edges of the flight feathers, pale eye-ring.
Jun. 2006, Qinghai, China, Yann Muzika. Male.
The male (not recorded in HK) has head, face and upperparts deep slate-blue, apart from black lores and cheek, and blackish uppertail-coverts. The tail is black with white bases to the outer feathers. The underparts are deep orange below, becoming paler on belly and undertail-coverts.
VOCALISATIONS
None of the birds recorded in HK were reported to call. However, utters a dry rattle typical of Ficedula flycatchers.
Also, a short inflected ‘tsee’ or ‘tsee-too’.
OCCURRENCE
2008: a first-winter at Tsuen Wan from 10 February to 2 March (Cheung 2011).
2013: a female at Chuen Lung on 5 January (the date in HKBR 2013 is erroneous).
2017: a first-winter/female at Ho Man Tin on 16 November.
2019: a female/first-winter at Cheung Chau on 24 January and 1 February; first-winter at Tai Lam CP from 24 December to 5 January 2020.
BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET
Although Clement and de Juana (2020) state that this species rarely descends to the ground, the bird at Tsuen Wan on 10 February 2008 was often seen flying down from trees and landing on rocks in a stream bed. This was, however, during a spell of exceptionally cold weather over south China.
RANGE & SYSTEMATICS
Monotypic, breeds in central and southern China (east Qinghai, southeast Gansu and Shaanxi south to southeast Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan) and north Myanmar; some move in winter to central Nepal east to Bhutan, northeast India, central and south Myanmar, north and west Thailand, and north and central Laos (Clement and de Juana 2020).
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN: Least Concern. Population trend stable.
Cheung, L. Y. (2011). Slaty-backed Flycatcher Ficedula hodgsonii at Tso Kung Tam near Tsuen Wan: The first Hong Kong record. Hong Kong Bird Report 2007-08: 288-92.
Clement, P. and E. de Juana (2020). Slaty-backed Flycatcher (Ficedula erithacus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.slbfly1.01
