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Post by steve pryor on Dec 23, 2007 8:40:23 GMT
Hi Bobby, Yes, I should have caught the indirect reference to location. I also am wondering if it is an escape. Will have to map out the records from surrounding islands and make a guess if it could have just flown over on its' own volition! Geez, do I hate the bird trade - just mucks up one's thinking when you have to take it into account. It has already come into play with the cebuan race of Loriculus - they don't even know if the race is extinct or not because of the release of extra-Cebu Loriculus on the Island.
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 22, 2007 9:29:46 GMT
Hi Bob, Thanks. Yes, I checked it out once I got home, and not recorded from Cebu - it is now cogent to ask Bobby the location of this shot - I am presuming not on Cebu for the moment.
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 21, 2007 9:49:53 GMT
Yes, split by most (if not all of those that really count) authorities. I forget exactly if now the M. tenuirostris is monotypic (means having only one race - the nominate) or if there is more than one race in Phils. Somebody look up what the race is on Cebu please - still in the Supermarket here.
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 20, 2007 9:02:28 GMT
Hi Bobby, I am presuming we are in Australia?
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 19, 2007 9:26:43 GMT
not sure I have seen one either - technically a "juvenile" this one. This one hasn't been hatched too long and like most Rails - they are nidifugous (means they don't hang around in a nest once hatched).
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 19, 2007 9:24:12 GMT
Oh yes, the phaeton with all of the white - probably an immature - the adult female would have a lot of brown on the breast and flanks.
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 19, 2007 9:22:57 GMT
Hi Bob, The cuckoo still looks like a Pallid to me, but I am still in the Supermarket and still without my books.
Agree on the KF - it is a macleayii - can't see the nape well, so can't sex it for sure - probably a male (but if another photo of the same bird demonstrates that it does not have a complete unbroken white collar under the nape - then a female.
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 18, 2007 11:28:36 GMT
Neon, I have to do everything relying only on memory today - in the Supermarket internet point - my home ISP is on the fritz. So, from just memory, the third and fourth photos down are of Neochmia phaeton - the third an adult male - the fourth the female I think (but could be an immature); the fifth: Lonchura castaneothorax; the sixth: Poephila acuticauda; the seventh: this is race placida in Australia, and is called the Peaceful Dove, not Zebra Dove. For the Cuckoo I need the books - probably a pallidus just guessing.
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 13, 2007 16:36:38 GMT
Bobby, Cebu has its' own endemic race for the Barbet - Megalaima haemacephala cebuensis.
Yes, OK on the Pachycephala - endemic race major on Cebu. Though none of the Rhinomyias FC's have been recorded it is always a good idea to check them out when looking at this particular Pachycephala as both Rhinomyias ruficauda boholensis, and Rhinomyias albigularis could occur possibly, and certainly if they did they would constitute confusion species with this Pachycephala.
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 13, 2007 8:27:51 GMT
Neon, Romy, To give you all available relevant info for the D. proprium:
DISTRIBUTION: Endemic to Mindanao, Philippines. Recorded on Mt. Mayo, Mt. Kitanglad, Mt. Matutum, Mt. Piapayungan, Mt. Sugarloaf and Mt. Apo and at Lake Sebu and Mainit, Manticao.
HABITAT: Uncommon above 900 m. amongst flowering and fruiting trees in forest, forest edge and secondary growth.
STATUS: A rare and little known species once considered to be globally threatened by habitat destruction and classified as Vulnerable (Collar et al. 1994), now downlisted to near-threatened (Collar et al. 1999). Restricted to forest, forest edge and secondary growth above 900 m. on Mindanao, where it is uncommon to locally common. No recent records except Mt. Kitanglad, Mt. Apo and Sitio Siete near Lake Sebu in South Cotabato province.
FOOD: Presumably includes fruit, and possibly also nectar and/or pollen, of mistletoes Loranthaceae.
Op.cit.: Sunbirds - A Guide to the Sunbirds, Flowerpeckers, Spiderhunters and Sugarbirds of the World, Cheke & Mann 2001
It would be advisable (since its' song is known) to see if anyone has audio files before attempting this one.
EDIT: Romy, will send you the ID of my avatar privately, and let others bust their brains on it for a while...
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 12, 2007 15:20:11 GMT
Hi Neon, OK. Since you are near Mt. Apo, your next assignment when you go visit your Dad - Dicaeum proprium!! No photos in existence that I know of... ;D
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Post by steve pryor on Dec 24, 2007 16:01:24 GMT
Romy, It's a Thick-knee (Burhinus sp.). I need JP to tell me the location to give you the species.
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Post by steve pryor on Feb 4, 2008 9:17:20 GMT
Well, looks immature. Will look at this and the Drongo tonight.
Any more photos of this, in particular the tail would be nice?
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Post by steve pryor on Feb 5, 2008 15:02:18 GMT
[/quote] I really love reading the posts of Sir Steve. It's always nice to read something hard to understand. ;D It's like listening to senate hearings with all those legal jargons. ;D Helps keep the brain active. [/quote] Well, my most recondite intent has been unveiled! It has always been my aim to articulate in the most abstruse manner possible so that no one can guess my ken! Probably the real reason is that I have lost all of my slang English. I seldom speak English, and only write it - I have always preferred speech that is able to convey nuance, and I have an uncommon command of the English vocabulary - always have had it - it is my second language and I had to study it to learn it.
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Post by steve pryor on Feb 5, 2008 12:36:56 GMT
Neon, My understanding is that the putative first record was based on a description, not on photos, but I am just not absolutely sure...
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Post by steve pryor on Feb 5, 2008 12:17:31 GMT
Just a couple of definitions: Lore (loral region): the area between the eye and base of the upper mandible. Intended to be thought of as being in a rather straight line between these two structures. Sometimes, you might have structures displaced slightly above this virtual straight line and in this case you may have e.g., a supraloral, v. Pycnonotus bimaculatus which has orange supraloral maculae. Maculum (sometimes macula) (s.); maculae (pl.) - a fancy word meaning simply a "spot". Rictal: refers to the area of the mandibular commissure (the hinge where the two mandible meet). So, the Black Drongo does not have a loral spot - it has a punctiform whitish structure in the zone of the mandibular commisure called a rictal maculum (aka rictal spot). Thanks Sir Steve!! for teaching us the specific terminology for this topographical feature. So, how do we classify this bird if it is not a "new record" and it's not listed on any of the bird list for the Philippines (Clement's, Howard and Moore, and KG) we know? It's not listed on any of the WBCP's records published in their website. Cheers, Neon Pending confirmation by the others in the Records Committee, if confirmed it would be a second country record (there is one from Candaba though I personally have not seen the documentation - Arne has it, but I knew about it). The Excel Bird Master List on the Club site is rather outdated. The Records Committee now has the question under advisement and we are in the intial stages of reviewing the taxonomy and nomenclature and inserting the new species records since the redaction of the existing list. It will probably take at least a couple of months before we have done everything and reached a consensus list (that will be thereafter uploaded to the site), and we hope (the members of the Records Committee that is) to submit it to Romy with a view of its' forming the taxonomic basis for the Photodatabase of this site!
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Post by steve pryor on Feb 5, 2008 9:04:20 GMT
Just a couple of definitions:
Lore (loral region): the area between the eye and base of the upper mandible. Intended to be thought of as being in a rather straight line between these two structures. Sometimes, you might have structures displaced slightly above this virtual straight line and in this case you may have e.g., a supraloral, v. Pycnonotus bimaculatus which has orange supraloral maculae.
Maculum (sometimes macula) (s.); maculae (pl.) - a fancy word meaning simply a "spot".
Rictal: refers to the area of the mandibular commissure (the hinge where the two mandible meet).
So, the Black Drongo does not have a loral spot - it has a punctiform whitish structure in the zone of the mandibular commisure called a rictal maculum (aka rictal spot).
EDIT: It must be noted if trying to compare the degree of bifurcation of the retrical terminus, that the tail of this bird (the first bird uploaded) is pretty worn (so one has to imagine the degree of bifurcation of the tail if the bird had fresh tail feathers).
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Post by steve pryor on Feb 4, 2008 13:36:13 GMT
Martin, The Dicrurus: this is only a tentative ID, and I have to check it and refer about it (i.e., have it confirmed). Not balicassius; not leucophaeus; not annectans (I don't like the bill conformation, nor the tail for this species); not hottentottus - not known to range here anyway where the supposedly extinct race cuyensis would be geographically the closest. So, tentatively, and since I can also discern a white rictal maculum, for the tail shape and for the bill conformation - my best tentative guess, and I underline tentative, would be a first winter (by the way, in many Drongids the ventral and belly spottiness is usually an indication of immaturity) Dicrurus macrocercus. If this may be true, the most probable race would be cathoecus. However, keep in mind that this is in no way a definitive ID. It must be checked out by others. Another thing, before somebody starts getting all excited - if a Black Drongo, it would not be a new Country Record! EDIT: This might be the closest photo on OBI: www.orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=11&action=searchresult&Bird_ID=2228&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1A mention should probably be made of the persistance or not of the white rictal maculum. Generally can be seen in immature forms of cathoecus, but may or may not be evident in the adult. It usually persists in the adult in some of the other races, e.g., albirictus, minor, etc.
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Post by steve pryor on Feb 3, 2008 8:58:33 GMT
Neon, My sense is not whiteheadi, but I am still trying to find a better source than the KG (for some reason the plate we need only shows dorsal views - I imagine they thought that only people photographing them fly over them in hang-gliders!).
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Post by steve pryor on Feb 2, 2008 11:43:19 GMT
Neon, Yes, I too am not satisfied thinking this an Artamus, and I wasn't even when I floated the idea. The reasons: I can't see a bill to speak of, and the apparent lateral retrical streamers. However, I can't see this being a Striated Swallow - too barrel-chested, short-bodied, etc., but it may still be that. I still have to think about this one...
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