Red-breasted or Taiga Flycatcher, Shanghai, China (1 Viewer)

[thirudevaram]

22nd November, 2015. Shanghai, China.
The bill was noticeably paler especially the lower mandible and the most of the Taiga's i have seen around here have all dark bill and a very contrasting black tail.

The last photo was a different individual from 18th October 2015, this one also had a buff brown breast as the one from 22nd November.

 

[gandytron]

looks good for RBF, for the reasons you mention.

Was it calling?

 

[thirudevaram]

It had the same rattled trill as the Taiga, too bad that i din't record the call. Also, i don't know how to differentiate the trills of the Taiga n Red-breasted even after listening to several calls of the both species.

 

[thirudevaram]

Thank you, David. What do you think of the last individual? Red-breasted as well?

 

[Grahame Walbridge]

Hi Dev,

Agree with Dave, your bird on 22 Nov is a 1st-winter RBF; the upper tail coverts are essentially black in Taiga. I would say the earlier bird is also 1st-winter RBF though the lighting is a little harsh...it would be good to see more images.

Regarding vocalisations, to my ear Taiga always sounds harder and faster, more wren-like, than RBF.

A word of caution though, the plumage tones of Taiga can be more variable in 1st-w plumage than commonly perceived.

http://birdingfrontiers.com/2014/08/04/learning-albicilla/

Grahame

 

[ammadoux]

sorry can't help. but i just wanted to say these are excellent shot.

i have spotted this beauty only twice here in Jeddah, hope next time i can record it with nice shot like these.

 

[thirudevaram]

Hi Dev,

Agree with Dave, your bird on 22 Nov is a 1st-winter RBF; the upper tail coverts are essentially black in Taiga. I would say the earlier bird is also 1st-winter RBF though the lighting is a little harsh...it would be good to see more images.

Regarding vocalisations, to my ear Taiga always sounds harder and faster, more wren-like, than RBF.

A word of caution though, the plumage tones of Taiga can be more variable in 1st-w plumage than commonly perceived.

http://birdingfrontiers.com/2014/08/04/learning-albicilla/

Grahame

Thank you Grahame. My bad, i should have said parva like features rather than just focusing on the buff breast. Attaching few more shots.

 

[thirudevaram]

sorry can't help. but i just wanted to say these are excellent shot.

i have spotted this beauty only twice here in Jeddah, hope next time i can record it with nice shot like these.

Good luck ammadoux. Red-breasted should be very common for you but they are relatively uncommon in East China except for handful of records in Korea and Japan.

 

[Grahame Walbridge]

Good luck ammadoux. Red-breasted should be very common for you but they are relatively uncommon in East China except for handful of records in Korea and Japan.

Dev,

The first documented records for China were in Apr-May 2007 in HK and Hebei Province respectively, since then I suspect they have become quite regular in HK at least, as well as in Japan and Korea.

http://www.bioline.org.br/pdf?zr08050

http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=37&Bird_ID=2689&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1&Location=

Your additional photos of the earlier bird in Oct confirm my initial impression that it is parva, a RBF.

Just noticed in my earlier post I described the call of Taiga as Wren-like, in hind sight not a very good comparison; RBF is softer than Wren, wheres Taiga is harder.

Grahame

 

[johnallcock]

The first documented records for China were in Apr-May 2007 in HK and Hebei Province respectively, since then I suspect they have become quite regular in HK at least, as well as in Japan and Korea.

This is certainly true in Hong Kong, with a few individuals recorded each year since the first confirmed record.

 

[thirudevaram]

Dev,

The first documented records for China were in Apr-May 2007 in HK and Hebei Province respectively, since then I suspect they have become quite regular in HK at least, as well as in Japan and Korea.

http://www.bioline.org.br/pdf?zr08050

http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?p=37&Bird_ID=2689&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1&Location=

Your additional photos of the earlier bird in Oct confirm my initial impression that it is parva, a RBF.

Just noticed in my earlier post I described the call of Taiga as Wren-like, in hind sight not a very good comparison; RBF is softer than Wren, wheres Taiga is harder.

Grahame

Thank you very much Grahame for the inputs and reference links. Only last year Shanghai had its first RBF. First winter birds are very likely to be thrown into the Taiga category if not observed very well. I should sharpen my ears o

 

[rockfowl]

Nice buff covert tips too, good records Dev.

With a bit of practice you should be able to pick up that softer quieter call.