Saxicola species from Andamans, India (1 Viewer)

[Dhyey13]

Got this  Saxicola sp. at South Andaman, India. The default species here would be Amur ( stejnegeri). I'm still learning how to differentiate the taxa of this genus. Would love to hear opinions on this bird!

All pics of the same bird which was roaming around. Found on 1st Jan 2023.

Thanks!
Dhyey

 

[Dhyey13]

Revisited the area and got 2 better shots.
Hope they help!


Dhyey

 

[Brian J Small]

Hi. Separating Stejneger's and Siberian Stonechat is one of the challenges in modern birding, oddly especially adult males. The features by which you might be able to do it are not especially well shown on your images.

Notably, I would go for the size of the white rump patch, which is limited in Stejneger's and more extensive on Siberian, on which it often extends up to the base of the tertials and can sometimes be visible above them. The extension of black onto the lower back on Stejneger's makes the rump/uppertail covs look like a down pointing pale triangle as opposed to a 'lozenge' on Siberian; the black feathers of the lower back in turn creates (to my eyes) an area of black sometimes visible arcing round the rear flanks - as can be seen on the annotated image here:



The wear/loss of upper tail coverts makes it hard to evaluate (I am probably imagining a black shaft streak in one of the later images).

Anyway, a tough one and I wait to be proven wrong, which would not be the first time.

Brian

 

[Dhyey13]

Hi. Separating Stejneger's and Siberian Stonechat is one of the challenges in modern birding, oddly especially adult males. The features by which you might be able to do it are not especially well shown on your images.

Notably, I would go for the size of the white rump patch, which is limited in Stejneger's and more extensive on Siberian, on which it often extends up to the base of the tertials and can sometimes be visible above them. The extension of black onto the lower back on Stejneger's makes the rump/uppertail covs look like a down pointing pale triangle as opposed to a 'lozenge' on Siberian; the black feathers of the lower back in turn creates (to my eyes) an area of black sometimes visible arcing round the rear flanks - as can be seen on the annotated image here:

View attachment 1486603

The wear/loss of upper tail coverts makes it hard to evaluate (I am probably imagining a black shaft streak in one of the later images).

Anyway, a tough one and I wait to be proven wrong, which would not be the first time.

Brian

Thanks for the input, Mr. Small!
Any specific angles which can make the evaluation easier? I can try searching for them within the loads of images.