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please id-- european honey buzzard or crested honey buzzard? xinjiang china (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter xujie
- Start date
KenM
Well-known member
Xujie Hi,
A tough one!...much easier in flight!...I'm going to suggest a sub adult/adult (yellow Iris) Honey Buzzard...based on a shorter primary projection say...than one might expect from Crested (If the pp to tertial ratio...illustration comparisons in the Collins guide are correct, and I have interpreted it so?).
Having said that!...If the images were taken recently? This might be well out of wintering range! (should be in Africa?)
When were the images taken?
cheers
A tough one!...much easier in flight!...I'm going to suggest a sub adult/adult (yellow Iris) Honey Buzzard...based on a shorter primary projection say...than one might expect from Crested (If the pp to tertial ratio...illustration comparisons in the Collins guide are correct, and I have interpreted it so?).
Having said that!...If the images were taken recently? This might be well out of wintering range! (should be in Africa?)
When were the images taken?
cheers
Biancone
to err is human
Lots of views but only one opinion! And I was really hoping someone would explain in detail how to separate these two species, given these images only! Anyone?
I've never seen Crested/Oriental HB so don't myself know for sure what species this is, but it looks pretty good for European HB to me also (but not personally seen one with exactly this warm light brown head and breast). Tail pattern looks fine for adult European HB, perhaps more like typical female in spacing of bars, and excludes Crested adult male.
Still traces of dark patch through eye, which is mainly a juvenile feature. The iris is yellow which excludes juvenile European HB (and excludes juvenile and male Crested HB, leaving female Crested HB as possible candidate). But the bird still has a yellow cere, larger in area on the right side than the left. Given the apparent reduction in extent, but not complete absence, I'm wondering if this could be a 2cy bird?
The photos were taken in the far northwest of China which, interestingly, looks to be a few hundred kms south of both the eastern extremity of the breeding range of European HB and the western extremity of Crested HB range. So locality doesn't give any clues. Dated late August when birds of either species could be moving away from their breeding range.
I've never seen Crested/Oriental HB so don't myself know for sure what species this is, but it looks pretty good for European HB to me also (but not personally seen one with exactly this warm light brown head and breast). Tail pattern looks fine for adult European HB, perhaps more like typical female in spacing of bars, and excludes Crested adult male.
Still traces of dark patch through eye, which is mainly a juvenile feature. The iris is yellow which excludes juvenile European HB (and excludes juvenile and male Crested HB, leaving female Crested HB as possible candidate). But the bird still has a yellow cere, larger in area on the right side than the left. Given the apparent reduction in extent, but not complete absence, I'm wondering if this could be a 2cy bird?
The photos were taken in the far northwest of China which, interestingly, looks to be a few hundred kms south of both the eastern extremity of the breeding range of European HB and the western extremity of Crested HB range. So locality doesn't give any clues. Dated late August when birds of either species could be moving away from their breeding range.
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