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Post by steve pryor on Apr 30, 2012 9:02:40 GMT
Hi Neil, Grey Wagtail, not Yellow.
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 30, 2012 8:22:18 GMT
7 - Anthreptes malacensis heliolusius, female (Plain-throated Sunbird, aka Brown-throated SB) 8 - Anthreptes malacensis heliolusius, male
1, 3, 4, 6 - Leptocoma sperata juliae - male (Purple-throated Sunbird) 5, 10 idem - not sure if there are intergrades with race sperata in this location.
11 - Hypsipetes philippinus saturatior - (Philippine Bulbul)
2 - for me, Brown Shrike. The angle of the photo presents problems. However, the undertail is consistent with cristatus - validirostris has a dark brown, or light grey undertail - this is too light. Further, I see a white wing lining, and the primary edges appear too light to me for validirostris.
The last photo? Not even sure they are of the same species. The one on the left could be a Bulbul (but the confusion species could be the Macronus striaticeps though I don't think this is streaky enough on the upper breast, but unfortunately the crown is hidden here behind a branch) at a real bad angle shortening all of the morphometrics that are usually needed to give a decent ID. I would be just guessing on the bird on the right - the bill is not visible in all of its length among other things, and I can't really discern here what is actually bird parts and plant parts - especially trying to figure out the wing length.
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 30, 2012 8:09:26 GMT
This would be a very challenging bird for the ornithologist to identify. It could be a new specie that is endemic to the Philippines. In the absence of a positive id the Canary Sunbird is a good name to start with. Congratulations Ramon on this rare find. Well done & Mabuhay. Occam's Razor. Not a new species. A known species bird with a pigmentation problem. On jizz alone, it is almost certainly Cinnyris j. jugularis (Olive-backed Sunbird).
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 30, 2012 7:52:49 GMT
Well, pretty obviously a Bulbul. Only two are reported as ranging. Pycnonotus goiavier, which this isn't, and Hypsipetes philippinus guimarasensis - Philippine Bulbul (N.B.: taxon guimarasensis has been recently split with some controversy, as Hypsipetes guimarasensis - Visayan Bulbul). Certainly, for being Bulbuls, the entire species complex has rather huge bills, they almost look like some of the Oriole bills. Here is one from Panay (same race): orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=8&Bird_ID=1695&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1I have another couple from Negros (same race). This is the first I have seen from the type locale - Guimaras.
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 29, 2012 16:18:55 GMT
Clemn, That is what it looks like to me as well. Olive-backed Sunbird. Pigment aberrations in birds is a very complex subject. More than one pigment-system is involved besides the well-known melanin system, in some cases the birds have group-specific pigment systems. The sex of the bird also enters into the expression of many of these forms.
This is certainly a leucistic bird. It is not xanthochroic (which some might think if they concentrate just on the yellow on the breast and upper belly) - it is not because if the bird were normomophic those areas would be yellowish anyway.
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 21, 2012 8:23:48 GMT
The bill, the glossy blue-green on the crown and wing coverts, and the white throat on birds 1 and 2 suggest Pygmy FP to me. I have seen photos of Pygmy from Luzon that show black marks on the belly like this. Birds 3, 4, 5 are immatures to judge from the bright yellow lower mandible and gape. We don't have any good views of the bill shape though. Bird 6 looks typical for Pygmy: note the yellow-olive rump and thin bluish bill. There are some differences between these Pygmy and those I am used to from Luzon, although they are grouped currently in the same subspecies. It would be interesting to look closer at a larger range of Mindoro Pygmy FPs and those of nearby islands. Des, it is quite possible you are right about the first two. Unfortunately, we don't have (at least, I haven't seen any) descriptions for non-adult retrocinctum. I thought about the Pygmy and considered that lacking good information about immature retrocinctum that I could not draw a good conclusion about the coloration of the mantle and coverts. I also viewed the bill as being perhaps just a tad too long and sharp. However, if you recall, at least I think I CC'ed you with the photos, that before the publication of the HBW-13, I communicated with Clive Mann about the presence of a black pectoral macula in adult male race davao of the Pygmy (because he did not mention it in the monograph). I haven't seen photos of the Luzon race of the Pygmy with the macula, but I certainly believe you on this, and it does not surprise me in the least.
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 17, 2012 14:54:51 GMT
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 11, 2012 11:27:01 GMT
Neil, Good one! Can anybody identify the frog?
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 11, 2012 6:15:23 GMT
Hi Ariel, Nice photos. However, I need to make a slight correction on the ID's. The first one is OK - obviously a fully adult male bairdii. The following two photos are, however, also of male birds. There are no females in this set. The last two are immature male birds. They are too highly colored to be females immature or not. The second photo shows shiny blue wing coverts - not good for female of any age. The third is too highly colored both on the black of the head and throat (would be a rather washed out ashy-grey if female, but also on the belly where the red has too great of an extension. I know why you are confused. You are confused by the transverse barring of the ventral rectrices. The immature male birds have this barred pattern. The white comes in as they approach full maturity. Also to notice that the last two birds are losing the bicolored appearance of the female bill - they still have a bit of it, but it is just on the extremity of the bill. Of the last two photos, the third photo seems to be a male that is more immature than that in the second photo. Thank you very much, Steve! I really thought that there must be wrong with the ID but I wasn't quite sure. I saw from some websites a picture of a female specie that looked like the one above. I now modified the post. Many thanks for your correction! Ariel, Beware web-based ID's. I can't tell you how much time I spend vetting missed ID's before I file the photos away in my DB. Guesstimating, I might think anywhere between 10-15% of all bird photos on the web are missed ID's. The best ID'ers did not get there by mistake, or because they are geniuses - it is a lot of hard work, and it is much better if you have a set method. It is also pretty important to have multiple book sources especially when you have ID's that get down to just two or three possible species. By the way, I knew about the changing barring pattern of young male Trogons because I have made the same mistake (for another neotropical trogon - I think chionurus) and had somebody that actually had seen the birds in the field point it out to me.
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 10, 2012 18:12:45 GMT
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 10, 2012 8:45:52 GMT
Hi Ariel, Nice photos. However, I need to make a slight correction on the ID's. The first one is OK - obviously a fully adult male bairdii. The following two photos are, however, also of male birds. There are no females in this set. The last two are immature male birds. They are too highly colored to be females immature or not. The second photo shows shiny blue wing coverts - not good for female of any age. The third is too highly colored both on the black of the head and throat (would be a rather washed out ashy-grey if female, but also on the belly where the red has too great of an extension. I know why you are confused. You are confused by the transverse barring of the ventral rectrices. The immature male birds have this barred pattern. The white comes in as they approach full maturity. Also to notice that the last two birds are losing the bicolored appearance of the female bill - they still have a bit of it, but it is just on the extremity of the bill. Of the last two photos, the third photo seems to be a male that is more immature than that in the second photo.
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 9, 2012 11:37:58 GMT
Splendid captures.
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 9, 2012 11:36:10 GMT
Very nice set. I especially like the Chestnut-faced Babbler (actually now thought related to Zosterops - but who knows when they will change the name!)
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 9, 2012 10:52:10 GMT
The first two appear to be immature Dicaeum retrocinctum (Scarlet-collared Flowerpecker). Many plumages (the immature and juvenile) are undescribed. Good photo to keep in the DB for reference.
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Post by steve pryor on Apr 2, 2012 14:56:24 GMT
Hi Steve, Nice shots! Seeing as you are going to Mindoro, how about stepping outside a couple of minutes and shooting a fantastically clear, knock-your-socks-off series of Black-hooded Coucal if it wouldn't be too much trouble...
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Post by steve pryor on Mar 26, 2012 7:56:58 GMT
I think these are the first good pics of a perched juvenile Barred Honey Buzzard ssp steerei that some are calling Philippine Honey Buzzard. Very nice! To be redundant, yes, I agree with your assessment.
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Post by steve pryor on Mar 16, 2012 12:11:18 GMT
Six races. Sitta frontalis palawana is established to be a different species. Nice. First for the race that I have seen. I still haven't seen a photo of race lilacea.
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Post by steve pryor on Mar 16, 2012 12:08:12 GMT
...almost no superciliary ridge, eyes lateral, pigeon-headed - not Hawk-Eagle - some sort of pernisy bird.
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Post by steve pryor on Mar 14, 2012 17:43:58 GMT
The second bird, I agree on the species - Dicaeum hypoleucum mindanense (Buzzing Flowerpecker). I can't sex it however, it appears to be an immature bird (the bill of the adults of both sexes should be black, and I have no information that the bill colors of adults of mindanense are different in color than that of other described races).
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Post by steve pryor on Mar 14, 2012 17:35:02 GMT
Hi Sylvia, My take on the first two photos, and descriptions are lacking for a lot of the races of this bird, especially regarding age-related plumages, is that it is a female Dicaeum trigonostigma cinereigulare. Des has probably seen this bird and can confirm (or not!).
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