Female Fujian Niltava or Rufous-bellied Niltava? (1 Viewer)

M

ming

New member

• Jan 20, 2013

• #1

12 Jan 2013, Hong Kong
Its whitish breast patch and almost the entire blue neck-patch were concealed when it perched. Is it a female Fujian Niltava or Rufous-bellied Niltava? Thanks for helping the identification.

 

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Xenospiza

Distracted

• Jan 20, 2013

• #2

I would tend to say Rufous-bellied, because I'd expect more contrast in the underparts for Fujian Niltava.

 

G

Gretchen

Well-known member

• Jan 21, 2013

• #3

Just peering at pictures in OBC - does the reddish tail help (like this bird) identify this as a rufous bellied? (I don't know the critical features!)

 

M

ming

New member

• Jan 21, 2013

• #4

Fujian Niltava is a winter visitor to Hong Kong while Rufous-bellied Niltava is regarded as vagrant. I had no experience with Rufous bellied. According to "A Field Guide to Birds of South-East Asia" by Craig Robson, this bird fits Rufous bellied more. Many thanks to Xenospiza and Gretchen, I have more confidence to say it is a Rufous bellied. Any ideas are greatly welcomed.

 

Last edited: Jan 21, 2013

J

johnallcock

Well-known member

• Jan 23, 2013

• #5

ming said:

Fujian Niltava is a winter visitor to Hong Kong while Rufous-bellied Niltava is regarded as vagrant.

Click to expand...

In fact, Rufous-bellied has not been recorded in Hong Kong. I'm not sure if there are even any records of presumed ex-captive birds.

I think this is the same bird that has been photographed in Tai Po Kau and has caused some discussion on the HKBWS forum (http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/viewthread.php?tid=18074&extra=page=1).
Current opinion seems to be that it is an unusual female Fujian Niltava.

 

M

ming

New member

• Jan 23, 2013

• #6

Thank John for the reply. The bird has been in TPK from 21/12/2012. According to the above reference book, whitish undertail does not rule out the possibility of Rufous bellied.
I expect Female Fujian Niltava would look like this http://www.hkbws.org.hk/BBS/viewthread.php?tid=13313&highlight=Female%2BFujian%2BNiltava, which is very different from the above bird.
Here is the call of the bird:
http://youtu.be/Qmi1B3k-wXg
The below video is recorded with exposure higher than necessary:
http://youtu.be/Gxugzy46Ax0
Sorry for those shaky videos.

 

Last edited: Jan 23, 2013

M

ming

New member

• Jan 23, 2013

• #7

Would someone have experiences of both Fujian and Rufous-bellied Niltava give me some advices.