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Post by paulbourdin on Jan 10, 2012 11:23:17 GMT
It's a pity not more of the upperparts can be seen. Many of the Brown Shrikes I see have very pale heads and mantles, which is all we can see of this bird. I've been checking for images online, as well as the various books I have and I cannot find an image of a juvenile/ young Mountain Shrike anywhere. I can also find no image that shows the white supercilium to be as extensive as the one showing on this bird. My copy of Lefranc & Wolfork (Shrikes, A Guide to Shrikes of the World) says the juvenile is "not examined; supposed to be very similar to juvenile Grey-backed Shrike" which has chestnut flanks as well as lightly barred underparts, neither feature is vissible here. It also indicates that the distribution of Mountain Shrike on Luzon is "confined to the Cordillera Central and Sierra Madre". Were this to be a Mountain Shrike it would be a considerable range extension.
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Post by paulbourdin on Jan 10, 2012 8:40:16 GMT
I don't think it is a Mountain Shrike. There is no sign of any rufous on the flanks, and the fine vermiculations it has on the breast and flanks are characteristic of Brown Shrike. I took the following photo at IRRI in Jan 2009. As you can see the breast and flanks are very similar, as is the pale base to the bill. The crown of my bird appears browner, but this is a highly variable feature in Brown Shrike. One detail that is suggestive of Mountain Shrike on your bird is the fine white supercilium. Most of the Brown Shrikes I see have a more smudged super, but I suppose this is also variable.
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Post by paulbourdin on Jan 10, 2012 4:13:40 GMT
Great pictures as usual! The 'Green-winged' Teal is in fact Eurasian Teal, they were split many years ago. There are also a lot of Garganey scattered through the flock you don't mention, particularly in the fourth photo of the set where one is quite clear.
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Post by paulbourdin on Jan 9, 2012 6:55:35 GMT
Yes to Garganey.
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Post by paulbourdin on Dec 12, 2011 9:36:58 GMT
Yes, that in-flight shot, poor though it is, does clinch the ID.
It's interesting you chose to estimate the size in inches. As it happens a Grey-faced Buzzard averages about 17 inches long, nearly 50% bigger than your estimate. This is normal, and actually less of an error than many others I have heard! People are in general poor at estimating distances without a handy scale (in fact most people dramatically over-estimate distances when trying to assign a numerical value), and I include myself in this. It is when we compare against a similar object without putting a number to it that we get more accuracy. I try and estimate sizes by using phrases like "as big as a ..."
By the way I'm really interested in the fact you're down in Bukidnon taking photographs. I don't know how many birders have lived there for lengthy periods, but it can't be many. You should keep up the good work, it has real value!
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Post by paulbourdin on Dec 10, 2011 8:59:58 GMT
What a good shot ...amazing camouflage, how did you spot it? I nearly trod on it! Then it took off, easy to track it down after that.
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Post by paulbourdin on Dec 10, 2011 6:07:29 GMT
A Savannah Nightjar on the beach near San Juan this morning. I haven't seen them there for the last couple of years and it was nice to catch up with it again.
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Post by paulbourdin on Dec 9, 2011 10:44:36 GMT
Aside from the talons and the hooked bill I'd agree Bob!
Grey-faced Buzzard, though the throat pattern is not visible. Possibly a function of poor light and ruffled feathers. Scale looks odd though, how big was it?
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Post by paulbourdin on Dec 1, 2011 7:39:04 GMT
I very much doubt it or many more species would have evolved in the same way. I can think of a number of species around the world that share this particular feature, but it is a relatively rare one. Mostly these kind of adaptations are to do with display.
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Post by paulbourdin on Nov 30, 2011 12:20:50 GMT
Fantastic Pictures. The 'Blue-crowned Racquet-tail' is in fact 'Blue-headed Racquet-tail'. Apart from the fact that Blue-crowned apparently does not occur on Coron (according to Kennedy), the whole of the head is blue, not just the crown (which is the top part of the head on a bird).
The female has less blue on the head, and young birds take time to develop the raquets. Possibly the second bird is a juvenile female?
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Post by paulbourdin on Nov 27, 2011 20:41:50 GMT
Also notice the tiny white tips to the tails feathers, another feature of the Drongo Cuckoo.
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Post by paulbourdin on Nov 22, 2011 5:07:44 GMT
The last picture looks like a juvenile Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris). Of course it is! I haven't seen one of these in 20 years, that's my excuse anyway!
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Post by paulbourdin on Nov 22, 2011 1:29:11 GMT
The 'Wryneck' is in fact a Treecreeper. Could even be Short-toed Treecreeper, I'll check my books this afternoon.
The last picture looks like a canary of some sort, which would make it an escaped cage bird. Again I'll have to check my guides.
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Post by paulbourdin on Nov 20, 2011 3:58:21 GMT
It looks very similar to this bird that I photographed on Makiling yesterday, which is a female Narcissus Flycatcher.
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Post by paulbourdin on Nov 19, 2011 23:18:17 GMT
From what I can tell to now, a lot depends on instinct and eye for judging the bill strength. The smaller billed Arctic types in Phils are probably the Arctic post-split. The bigger-billed ones are either the Japanese LW, or the Kamchatka LW. The Kamchatka LW is the one that supposedly has the strongest overall bill. Ah, useful. That means taking ventral photographs and comparing them. The vestiges of a plan!
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Post by paulbourdin on Nov 19, 2011 15:37:00 GMT
Are you sure they are the same? They look to have very different coloured throats.
The second is definitely a Flycatcher, and could be the female Pied as you say.
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Post by paulbourdin on Nov 19, 2011 8:17:25 GMT
The first thing to say is this isn't the Philippine endemic Lemon-throated Warbler. There is no hint of yellow on the throat or the vent, and the first photograph appear to show a wing-bar.
That means the bird is of the Arctic Warbler Complex, now split into 3, Arctic Warbler, Japanese Warbler and Kamchatka Warbler. As these changes are relatively new to me I can't be authoritative on this, but from what I read, Japanese and Kamchatka Warblers are somewaht yellower on the flanks than Arctic, and have a broader wing bar (according to Brazil, Birds of East Asia). If anything this bird has even less yellow on the flanks than the vent. They are also said to be greener above (while Arctic is browner)
I've been told there is a difference in the calls, but this will take a while to sort out as none of the published calls I can find differentiate between the three species (everything on Xeno-canto refers to Arctic Warbler only).
I think we'll still be discussing the separation of these three birds for a long while to come. For now I refer to them as "Arctic warbler type"
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Post by paulbourdin on Oct 25, 2011 10:08:33 GMT
An unusual record this afternoon at IRRI, a Red-necked Phalarope. I've seen these fairly often offshore, but this is my first bird inland in The Philippines
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Post by paulbourdin on Oct 20, 2011 12:31:46 GMT
And in English that's White-capped Water Redstart. Very smart too!
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Post by paulbourdin on Oct 19, 2011 9:21:51 GMT
It certainly looks like a Common Myna, though as you say the colours are a little difficult to discern. In Siem Riep (and other cities in the region) White-vented Myna also occur, and they are worth looking out for.
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